Little Kids Rock

Media Contact:

Keith Hejna
Little Kids Rock
Phone: 973.746.8248 x 114
Cell: 201.264.9520
keith@littlekidsrock.org

On-Site Contact:
Greg Pavliv
Little Kids Rock
Director of Training
973.289.7325
greg@littlekidsrock.org

Partnership will provide $1M-worth of free instruments, lessons, and music curriculum to benefit local students

FORT COLLINS, CO Feb. 3, 2012 — With funding from Bohemian Foundation, the national nonprofit Little Kids Rock will expand its free and innovative music programming to Poudre School District students over the next three years. Bohemian Foundation is providing a $375,000 grant to Little Kids Rock to bring their program here to PSD schools. Little Kids Rock will leverage their mission, music industry relationships and resources to donate $1 million-worth of instruments, lessons and curriculum.

“We are proud to partner with Little Kids Rock to offer this exciting music program to Poudre School District students and teachers,” said Cheryl Zimlich, Bohemian Foundation board member. “Bohemian Foundation has long sought to strengthen the role of music in our community, and Little Kids Rock has had remarkable success in helping schools broaden music education for children. It gives kids another choice to find their passion.”

Little Kids Rock will train 25-30 teachers on Saturday and Sunday, February 4 and 5, at Lesher Middle School and donate instruments, curriculum and accompanying resources to the district. The resources will be distributed to each trained teacher so they can run “modern band” music programs that focus on teaching kids to perform, improvise and compose music rooted in the popular genres of the past 50 years and today on instruments like guitar, bass, keyboard and drums.

"Little Kids Rock partners with public schoolteachers to help them expand their music programs," says Little Kids Rock founder and executive director David Wish, who used to teach first grade in California. "Thanks to the generous support of Bohemian Foundation, this will become a reality for the children of the Poudre School District."

Little Kids Rock offers free professional development seminars to public school teachers across the country along with the donation of instruments, lessons, curriculum and other resources to help restore or enhance music education. At the workshops, teachers play guitar, write and perform their own songs, and learn how to teach a “modern band” program at their schools.

“We are eager to see how some of our teachers will utilize the training from Little Kids Rock to supplement the strong music programs that already exist in Poudre School District,” said Dr. Todd Lambert, PSD Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment. “We believe this may give our teachers an additional way of motivating our students to explore music and we’re grateful to Bohemian Foundation for their continued generous support of the students and families of Poudre School District.”

Event Information:
WHAT: Little Kids Rock will train 28 teachers in its innovative music program
WHEN: Saturday, February 4th (10 am – 4 pm) & Sunday, February 5th (10 am – 4 pm)
WHERE: Lesher Middle School (1400 Stover Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524)

Media are invited to attend. Please contact keith@littlekidsrock.org

About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that transforms children’s lives by restoring and revitalizing music education in public schools. Little Kids Rock was founded in San Francisco in 2002 by David Wish, an elementary school teacher who had grown frustrated with the lack of music education funding at his school. Today, Little Kids Rock is one of the leading nonprofit providers of free lessons and instruments to underprivileged children in US public schools, and has served more than 160,000 students at over 1,200 schools in 25 cities nationwide. Little Kids Rock Honorary Board Members include Bonnie Raitt, Slash, Paul Simon, B.B. King, Slash, Ziggy Marley and other famous friends in the music industry. More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org.