Closing House Day~! Let's pack it up and mosey on for now!

Hey everyone, we've officially set the Outside The Box "Closing House Day" for Saturday December 13th @ the Center!! This will the day for all the kids to get a chance to record their contribution to the Feist song they've been working so hard on!!

This program has been so much fun, and really fufilling. And we are excited to wrap it up and do it all again!

Also check out another article about OTB:

http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=127&csid2=844&fid1=34952

Thanks to all of the parents and teachers so far for all of their support.
Keep your eyes on this page as we update you on the next steps.

-OTB Team

Yes, We Can!

Now, I know that an American presidential election doesn’t directly impact the arts funding of our Canadian government, but with the Barak Obama stepping into the White House I feel that his presence won’t be felt as largely in the tangible results in the world economy and policies in the coming years as it will be in the inspirational impact with the people of the world.

Michael is my 8-year-old cousin from Queens, NY that is officially the youngest struggling artist in our family. His aspirations are in the arts, specifically in theatre, and similar to many of the students in our "Outside The Box" workshops he carries the burden of living in a low-income community. So when I heard his view on the election I immediately thought about our kids.

I called his mother Wednesday morning and listened to her jubilant voice reinforce just how much this U.S. Election had given her hope. Chistine, his mother, told me about a conversation that her and Michael had that morning where she asked him what it meant that a black man had been elected President of the United States and he proudly responded, “It means I can be anything that I want!” I realized how Barak Obama's childhood mirrors so many children across North America that his accomplishment has taught kids to dream again.

If all the children in low-income areas on the planet (including Parkdale) of all colours, creed and race around the world have been impacted to the same degree as my cousin Michael then the historic November 4th, 2008 has already evoked that change and self-expression that Obama spoke of in the youth. Programs like "Outside The Box" will be even more necessary in the coming years.


Watch CBS Videos Online

-Sway

Music Education

I made a promise to my family a long time ago that I would never venture into education. That teaching and school bore me to death. But as the program gets rolling, I find myself incredibly excited about the potential for change, about our ability to have kids more excited about learning, and stimulate their creative minds to help them do better in all aspects of their lives. 

Look at that! I'm even using the typical jargon! 

But that's because we are sincerely passionate. And everything that we heard from others about working with kids in a program like this rings true. 

Between Sway, Brent and myself and the other amazing teachers, we really think we stand a chance at making a difference. 

And I'd like to show you what first inspired me over a year ago.

Sir Ken Robinson. The importance of creativity in schools.

-Jahmal

Partayyyyyy! The Open House!

The Open house was a BLAST!! 

We were so grateful for everyone that came out. And all of the parents and all of the kids really had a great time.

Check out these pics of the amazing time we had!

This is shaping up to be amazing fall season full of fun! Thanks to Yamaha Music Canada for providing the drums and keyboards and Gibson guitars Canada for the bass and guitars. We really appreciate it.

Keep checking in on us. We appreciate your support, and only expect bigger and better things as time goes on.

New Beginnings!

Hey everyone,

If you are reading this, you've popped in to take a look at the Outside the Box music program. And we appreciate it!

We have a long winded version of the program and its mandate. And we will make that available for you to read if you wish. But we want yo tell you quite simply what the program is about...

We strive to offer FREE music lessons to kids who can't otherwise afford it. 

From Los Angeles to Scotland to Venezuela, introducing children into music has proven to curtail violence and heighten academic achievements. And that is something we strive to do as a group. As musicians, We know what music has meant to us all of these years. And most of us now play  and work in music professionally. 

And with our knowledge and excitement, we really think we can offer something special to the kids of the various neighborhoods we will work in by simply offering them the chance to be creative. To dream and to wish. 

These may sound like the ideals of the flighty or wishful, but we don't approach this program with naivety. We start Outside The Box with ideals, ideals that we hope become realities. And those realities can change lives. It's really not too much to ask.