Our Mission is Music
Little Kids Rock is a national nonprofit that is dedicated to building a world where children can live creative, purposeful lives by unlocking their inner music-‐makers.
What We Do
Little Kids Rock partners with public school districts in some of the nation’s most economically disadvantaged communities with the goal of ensuring that all students (K-‐12) have access to an engaging, relevant and fun music education program. As the nation’s leading nonprofit provider of free music instruction and instruments, Little Kids Rock has changed the lives of more than 300,000 children.
Little Kids Rock accomplishes this by:
• Pioneering innovative teaching methods that are rooted in popular music forms such as rock, pop, reggae, funk, country and hip-‐hop.
• Preparing public school teachers to offer classes utilizing Little Kids Rock methods and materials.
• Providing free musical instruments and professional development training to school districts that have been affected by budget cuts.
PRESS CONTACT Keith Hejna Communications Officer o: (973) 746-‐8248 ext. 114 c: (201) 264-‐9520 [email protected] HEADQUARTERS Little Kids Rock 271 Grove Ave., Bldg E-‐2 Verona, NJ 07044 Phone: (973) 746-‐8248 Fax: (973) 746-‐8240 WEB PRESENCE
Website: littlekidsrock.org
Blog: littlekidsrock.org/blog facebook.com/littlekidsrock twitter.com/littlekidsrock youtube.com/littlekidsrock
PRESS KIT
Putting music back in schools!
The Results Confidence. Creativity. Passion. These are just some of the words used by Little Kids Rock students and teachers to explain what the program brings out in them. Studies have shown that students who have access to arts and music education tend to perform better in school than their peers who do not. Little Kids Rock does more than just teach music -‐ it provides children with a creative outlet and builds confidence necessary for success in life.
How We Got Started Little Kids Rock began in 1996 when elementary school teacher David Wish grew frustrated with the lack of funding for music education at his school, and started his own after-‐school music program. Equipped only with a guitar and a passion for teaching kids to express themselves, David began giving free lessons to kids after school. With the help of a few volunteers and some celebrity supporters, David helped grow Little Kids Rock into an organization with a national focus that serves tens of thousands of public school students with free music education.
FAQs What do Little Kids Rock students learn? Little Kids Rock students learn to play styles of music that are familiar to them, such as rock, blues, rap, country, funk, hip-‐hop and reggae. Heavy emphasis is placed on performance, composition and improvisation. What instruments does Little Kids Rock provide? Little Kids Rock provides training and curriculum, and donates the following instruments: electric guitars, acoustic guitars, bass guitars, drums and keyboards. Little Kids Rock also provides donated microphones, amplifiers and recording equipment.
Why popular music? All music is made up of the exact same elements. The music of Beethoven, the Beatles and Beyoncé all use the same basic notes and chords. Viewed through this lens, musical genre becomes a secondary consideration in education. A student who feels comfortable playing rock, funk or blues music will be well equipped to study all musical forms. Their musicianship is a passport across culture and history.
FACTS Little Kids Rock is the only school-‐based, pop and rock instrumental music program in the U.S. and is one of the leading, free instrumental music programs in the country today. In fact…
• Little Kids Rock currently serves nearly 200,000 disadvantaged students in nearly 1,500 schools in 30 cities nationwide.
• Since 2002, Little Kids Rock has brought FREE instruments and lessons into the lives of more than 400,000 underprivileged children in 13 states and Washington D.C.
• While budget cuts are forcing music programs out of public schools, Little Kids Rock is serving more children than ever before with free instruments and free lessons.
• The goal is to teach kids to play, improvise and compose the music that they love, creating “Modern Band” music programs in schools nationwide
• Since 2002, Little Kids Rock has donated more than 50,000 instruments and invested more than $12M worth of resources into U.S. public schools.
• Nearly 1,500 public school teachers are currently running Modern Band programs powered by Little Kids Rock.
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