MOLINE, Ill. — For better or worse, technology is a way of life, but, one national nonprofit is making sure millions of students, including some in the Quad Cities, are striking the right note in the classroom.
Music Workshop is a nonprofit organization started in 2012 in Portland, Oregon. They create high-quality, culturally responsive music programming for teachers to use in their classrooms. Now, the program is in all 50 states and in more than 100 countries.
Music Workshop Executive Director Amy Richter started the nonprofit after noticing music being cut in schools.
"So I decided to make a difference, just knowing how important music was in my life and how it helped provide guidance," Richter said.
It offers kindergarten through eighth grade students a unique channel for self-expression, connection, creativity, and development. The organization said exposure to music as a child may also help build strong neural pathways that can influence and enhance cognitive ability for a lifetime. Kids learn about music from all over the world, including careers in the industry.
"Teaching students that you don't have to be a rock star to have a career in music," Richter said. "And I think that this is just one of those moments of children responding and going, wow, I didn't know that I could do that."
Richter said this program also addresses a disconnection between kids and their peers.
"When we're on our screens and we aren't looking up and we aren't connecting with our peers," Richter said.
Now, Richter said the nonprofit is turning that record around.
"We hear often that some of the most disconnected students in their classroom are now feeling connected to their peers, to their academic setting," Richter said.
Leaving students singing a happy song.
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