Building a String Orchestra and Self-Esteem

“Fostering creativity in children is as important as any other part of the school curriculum because it feeds the soul. A daily dose of creativity helps children imagine a better world and then create it.”

– Renowned soprano Renée Fleming

 

 

Our Partner Organizations

 

Paul's Place After School Program  

Paul’s Place is an after-school program, based at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in the southwest section of Delray Beach, Florida. The program began in the fall of 2000 as a response to the needs of underprivileged children living in the neighborhood surrounding St. Paul’s who were arriving at the church looking for homework help and a safe haven. These children are mainly of Haitian descent, and all are enrolled in the Palm Beach County School District. Were it not for this program, most would go home to empty houses in the afternoon. It is our intention to not only provide a safe haven for them, but also to feed, tutor and enrich their lives in as many ways as is possible. 

 

Fuller Center    

 

For more than 50 years, the Fuller Center’s mission has been to embrace, educate, and empower hardworking, under-resourced families and children to reach their full potential. We build a positive future through education for the more than 900 children (infants through teens) that we serve annually, as well as 600 of their family members. The Fuller Center reaches families in more than 40 zip codes throughout Palm Beach County, as well as North Broward County.

Almost all Fuller Center working parents – 62% – serve as essential or frontline workers, working in hospitals, retail outlets, restaurants, and hotels. Our programs help empower children to start school prepared, succeed academically, and break the generational cycle of poverty through quality early childhood education, after-school and summer camp programs, our new private elementary school and teen leadership programs, and comprehensive, family-centered support services. They also empower parents who are essential to keeping our local economy open and who provide the vital services we all count on. 

 

How We Began

In 2017, with seed money from the Children’s Services Council’s “Great Ideas Initiatives,” followed by a generous $100,000 two-year grant from Impact 100 of Palm Beach County, The Symphonia launched a program called Building a String Orchestra and Self-Esteem at the Boys & Girls Club of Delray Beach. In fall of 2023, the program began a new partnership with Milagro Center, which was the program's home for the 2023-2024 academic year. In 2024, The Symphonia entered into partnerships with Paul's Place After School Program and Fuller Center, where the Strings & Self-Esteem program is currently delivered.

The program's growth and sustainability have been made possible by multi-year funding from the Virginia & Harvey Kimmel Family Foundation (2019-2022), the Leslie L. Alexander Foundation, and significant gifts from other private donors. From 2019 to 2022, the program was named The Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Strings & Self-Esteem Program.

Who We Serve

The Strings & Self-Esteem Program serves children ages six to eighteen who belong to Paul's Place After School Program or Fuller Center. Students typically come from moderate to low-income households and attend Title I schools. The Symphonia's free, afterschool music program delivers an engaging music enrichment curriculum that most public-school districts are no longer able to offer because of budget cutbacks in arts programming. The Symphonia recognized that this need began to surface when school-based arts programs in Palm Beach County were phased out of school curricula. As a result, children from low-to-moderate income households have the least access to private arts programs and are thus the hardest hit by this cultural void.

Our dynamic afterschool program provides children, including those at risk for academic and behavioral problems, with high-quality, free music instruction taught by professional musicians who are committed to preparing them to one day form a Strings & Self-Esteem string orchestra.

 

Equity in the Arts

Rooted in the notion that the arts should be for everyone and recognizing the far-reaching positive impact that music has upon individuals as well as entire communities, The Symphonia has successfully turned its fun and substantive initiative into an ongoing program that brings music into the lives of those children who perhaps need it the most.

 

Art Transforms Lives

Research shows that most children respond to music with joy. Building a String Orchestra & Self-Esteem demonstrates how playing an instrument helps to develop the area of the brain that handles cognitive tasks, which can result in improved academic skills, particularly in the areas of literacy and math. Studying and playing music also fosters self-discipline, teaches cooperativeness, sparks the imagination, and encourages children to express themselves in new and positive ways. All of these skills, coupled with the pure enjoyment that music brings, engender feelings of pride, self-worth, and self-confidence. The families of the children in the program take joy in watching their children grow as young musicians and as productive citizens in the community.

What We Provide

Our program groups students by age, ability (beginners or advanced), and chosen string instrument (violin, viola, cello, bass). Each student receives consistent hands-on instruction in addition to training in music theory, history, and ear/rhythm classes. Supervised practice sessions are held on the designated days when there are no classes. Each semester The Symphonia hosts a seasonal recital for the entire membership and staff and for the families and friends of the young musicians. Recitals give students the chance to show what they can do and the chance to shine in the spotlight. The advanced students play on their own, while the younger beginners perform side-by-side with the faculty.  Every student gets to perform solo or as part of an ensemble, and to feel the joy and pride of performing.

 

 

 

COVID – Facing Unanticipated Challenges

The pandemic dealt a dramatic and unanticipated blow to this project when the Boys & Girls Club of Delray Beach (where the program was housed at that time) temporarily closed. The Symphonia was able to pivot and put in place a twice-weekly virtual program for the more advanced students. We eventually transitioned to a scaled-down hybrid program on-site at the re-opened Boys & Girls Club, with string lessons being taught to advanced students via Zoom by violinist ShaSha Zhang, one of the program’s faculty members. The program resumed in-person instruction during the 2022-23 season.

 

“Music has opened these children’s eyes and enriched their spirits…. Working as part of this program, I have witnessed those moments when our young violin players feel joy and a sense of accomplishment.”

Throughout this program, and even now during the pandemic, The Symphonia is touching and transforming children’s lives through music, and subsequently providing children with the opportunity to enrich and improve society.

For more information on this program call 1-561-376-3848.

 

 

The program has been made possible through generous support from

 

Impact 100 of Palm Beach County

Impact 100 Palm Beach County, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, connects, engages, and inspires women to improve our community by collectively funding multiple $100,000 grants to nonprofits that implement high impact initiatives in southern Palm Beach County. The guiding principle of Impact 100 Palm Beach County is efficient philanthropy. The Power of Women Giving as One.

 

Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Family Foundation

For more than three decades, Virginia and Harvey Kimmel have been creating and supporting cultural arts and education programs for children and teens in Pennsylvania, South Florida, and Michigan. Thanks to their philanthropic efforts and leadership, the Kimmels have impacted tens of thousands of young people – from learning instruments to reading books to participating in full stage productions.

 

Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County

Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County, a special-purpose government established by Palm Beach County voters in 1986 and reauthorized in 2014, provides leadership, funding, services and research on behalf of the county's children so they grow up healthy, safe and strong. For more information, visit www.cscpbc.org

 

 

AND BY THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS