THE WINSTON-SALEM FOUNDATION
2012 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY | 2011 ANNUAL REPORT
NOURISHING
OUR COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY GRANTS
MAKING MUSIC AND CHANGING LIVES THE SALVATION ARMY
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THE SALVATION ARMY received a $25,000 Community Grant from the Foundation in 2011 to support the Academy of Music and Arts. Other music-related Foundation grants to The Salvation Army have included a 2006 grant of $12,500 to enable the purchase of brass instruments and a 2000 grant of $15,935 to start a drum corps for members of the Boys and Girls Club.
HE BELIEF THAT MUSIC AND THE ARTS should be available to
everyone led The Salvation Army to create an Academy of Music and Arts that offers high-quality music instruction to children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate. “Music can change their lives,” says Sarah Jewett Clarke, the assistant to the Director of Operations at The Salvation Army in Winston-Salem. The Academy began in 2003 with just 15 students, and the program has grown steadily over the years. Now, 55 students ages 7 to 18 regularly attend, and 70 percent come from low-income households. Full-day participation in the summer program costs a maximum of $40 per week, and the Academy also holds afternoon programs during the school year as well as a spring break camp and field trips. “Diversity is abundant,” says Program Director Jeff Clarke. “It’s definitely a part of who we are.” Each student participates in band and plays either brass or percussion, continuing a historical tradition of The Salvation Army, which was begun as a street movement in the 1800s by a Methodist minister who used brass bands to attract people’s attention. Students choose electives such as chorus, music theory, guitar — and a favorite: the drum line. Students who develop an interest in their instruments can borrow them to use in school band programs, and their instructors are experienced, professional musicians. Funding from the Foundation has made a big impact because balancing limited resources is difficult. Other Salvation Army programs, which are providing people with basic necessities such as food and shelter, are in high demand in this economy. “It’s proven that music helps kids in a variety of ways,” Sarah says. “Kids who are exposed to music and music theory score higher in math and reading comprehension.” Yet the Academy offers more than an academic boost. Former Academy participant Rachel Hodge graduated in 2012 from Parkland Magnet High
School and has earned a full college scholarship. For Hodge, the Academy became a “home away from home.” “I wanted a place I could be away from home and make friends, a way to connect,” says Hodge, who this summer has taken on a leadership role as an instructor. “It’s completely changed my life.” “They learn everything; they’ll find something that they like,” says Jeff as he leads several youngsters playing guitars in a Bob Marley song. “I love it: This is a 9-year-old girl that’s shredding it up on the guitar. You see it again and again and again: kids becoming musicians over the summer.” “For a lot of kids, the key is opportunity: giving them something to do, something to be proud of, a place to perform, a place where people can appreciate what they’ve done. I really feel like we’ve accomplished that.”
the winston-salem foundation annual report
N O U R I S H I N G O U R CO M M U N I T Y [ 2 5 ]
COMMUNITY GRANTS
MAKING MUSIC AND CHANGING LIVES THE SALVATION ARMY
T
THE SALVATION ARMY received a $25,000 Community Grant from the Foundation in 2011 to support the Academy of Music and Arts. Other music-related Foundation grants to The Salvation Army have included a 2006 grant of $12,500 to enable the purchase of brass instruments and a 2000 grant of $15,935 to start a drum corps for members of the Boys and Girls Club.
HE BELIEF THAT MUSIC AND THE ARTS should be available to
everyone led The Salvation Army to create an Academy of Music and Arts that offers high-quality music instruction to children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate. “Music can change their lives,” says Sarah Jewett Clarke, the assistant to the Director of Operations at The Salvation Army in Winston-Salem. The Academy began in 2003 with just 15 students, and the program has grown steadily over the years. Now, 55 students ages 7 to 18 regularly attend, and 70 percent come from low-income households. Full-day participation in the summer program costs a maximum of $40 per week, and the Academy also holds afternoon programs during the school year as well as a spring break camp and field trips. “Diversity is abundant,” says Program Director Jeff Clarke. “It’s definitely a part of who we are.” Each student participates in band and plays either brass or percussion, continuing a historical tradition of The Salvation Army, which was begun as a street movement in the 1800s by a Methodist minister who used brass bands to attract people’s attention. Students choose electives such as chorus, music theory, guitar — and a favorite: the drum line. Students who develop an interest in their instruments can borrow them to use in school band programs, and their instructors are experienced, professional musicians. Funding from the Foundation has made a big impact because balancing limited resources is difficult. Other Salvation Army programs, which are providing people with basic necessities such as food and shelter, are in high demand in this economy. “It’s proven that music helps kids in a variety of ways,” Sarah says. “Kids who are exposed to music and music theory score higher in math and reading comprehension.” Yet the Academy offers more than an academic boost. Former Academy participant Rachel Hodge graduated in 2012 from Parkland Magnet High
School and has earned a full college scholarship. For Hodge, the Academy became a “home away from home.” “I wanted a place I could be away from home and make friends, a way to connect,” says Hodge, who this summer has taken on a leadership role as an instructor. “It’s completely changed my life.” “They learn everything; they’ll find something that they like,” says Jeff as he leads several youngsters playing guitars in a Bob Marley song. “I love it: This is a 9-year-old girl that’s shredding it up on the guitar. You see it again and again and again: kids becoming musicians over the summer.” “For a lot of kids, the key is opportunity: giving them something to do, something to be proud of, a place to perform, a place where people can appreciate what they’ve done. I really feel like we’ve accomplished that.”
the winston-salem foundation annual report
N O U R I S H I N G O U R CO M M U N I T Y [ 2 5 ]