Kaci, a 7 year old little girl, loves to play piano and sing. She’s an energetic girl that can put a smile on anyone’s face. Her teacher said that she is always excited to start her music lessons. “The second I step into her home she starts singing to me,” says her teacher, Jamie. Just last month, Kaci received her very own keyboard and her foster father says she can’t stop playing with it!
Andrew has been in our program for over a year now and continues to captivate his listeners through the creation of his own songs. Andrew wanted to start playing piano as soon as he saw his older cousin playing the saxophone. He has created and played many of his own songs with his teacher. In fact, he and his teacher were the opening act for Blues Traveler in November 2011! His favorite thing about playing piano is he gets to make up his own rhythm and create songs that he likes. His advice for other children out there who are struggling with an instrument is “Don’t give up and don’t be a quitter.” Andrew has learned to set high goals and achieve them through Kids in a New Groove.
As a young child, Lyndon has already seen homelessness, abuse, and neglect. A former foster youth, Lyndon’s life was not easy before he came to his adoptive parents. The transition to Lyndon’s new life has included many obstacles, but the love of his family and his lessons with Kids in a New Groove have helped him learn to be a happy and healthy child. Over the last year, Lyndon has begun to find love, support, and a musical outlet for his experiences. In large part, Lyndon’s parents think many of Lyndon’s accomplishments are because of the confidence and skills he gained from his music teacher and mentor, Jay.
Anthony has been in our program as a guitar student since the beginning. In spite of a failed adoptive placement, Anthony is a star student and one of the best overall students in our program when it comes to mastering the guitar. Anthony was known throughout his foster group home as a mentor to other foster youth due to his love of guitar, and he could be seen practicing in the Home most hours of the day. Sadly, Anthony was placed in a home in a rural Texas area, but he was able to continue his lessons through Skype until a teacher can be found willing to travel to his home.
