Arts and Culture United States Project #38636

JOY is a kindergartener playing the violin.

by Yamhill Enrichment Society

Project Report | May 23, 2022
JOY Across Yamhill County

By Danielle Howard Dye | Program Manager

Hello Friends of JOY!

Since I last gave an update, JOY has hit some major milestones and has made progress towards attaining our New Year’s resolutions for program expansion in 2022. I’m very excited to give you a brief overview of what has happened!

JOY @ Edwards had their first annual Spring String Festival at George Fox’s own Bauman Auditorium on April 15. This was the first major concert event that JOY has put on since our inception in 2017, and held special meaning especially after the last couple years of the pandemic. This concert featured all students from the After-School program and our friends from the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival (WVCMF): Sasha Callahan, Leo Eguchi, and Charles Noble. Each group got to play a short set of music during the concert and we concluded the night with a combined performance of the round “O My Love.” WVCMF taught our kids the round in rehearsals both on zoom and in-person leading up to the concert as part of their visit. It was a truly special night where everyone left feeling positive, reinvigorated, and more unified.

JOY has released our new promotional video series on YES’s Vimeo channel! Myself and my good friend and talented filmmaker Ty Cayatineto have been working on this project for well over a year to develop 3 videos to help educate and promote awareness of the JOY project and its impact in Newberg to the general public and to community and school leaders. This project was made possible with matching funds from the Yamhill County Cultural Coalition (YCCC). Links to view these videos can be found below.

Based on initial forecasting, we have had about 62 new Edwards students express interest in enrolling in our After-School program this fall. Compared to our current enrollment of 55 students across three ensembles, that is well over double our enrollment and the largest turn out in JOY’s 5-year history! Next year will also mark our first year where JOY will serve all grades K-5 at Edwards in both our K/1 In-School violin program and After-School orchestra.

Beyond Edwards, JOY is in talks with both Ewing Young and Antonia Crater Elementary schools in Newberg about the possibilities of JOY in their schools this academic year. We initially pursued Joan Austin Elementary in January and February, but it became clear that it would make more sense to revisit that possibility at another time.

JOY has found enthusiastic support for bringing the program to McMinnville schools! While many current and incoming teachers and admin in MSD elementary schools want a JOY program at their school (including the likes of Wascher, Memorial, and Newby), JOY is exploring Sue Buel Elementary first and will have MSD administrator Davey Alltree and Sue Buel music teacher Debbie Chiavaro visit our K/1 program at Edwards Elementary this week to meet current JOY staff and get a glimpse of how the program works during the school day. Once approved, JOY aims to secure funding to cover needs for the new site, which would cover instruments, supplies for box violins, hiring a contracted Teaching Artist, music, and other related costs.**

**As part of our pending approval in Mac schools, individual elementary schools not only need support from their music specialist and school admin to operate, but need upper administration approval to agree to a 6-year strategic plan that the district will hire a strings teacher at the Middle School level with JOY and YES. The fact that JOY is finding support so far given a much more intensive obligation on the district’s end is a step in the right direction for JOY and for music education in Yamhill County!

The push to expand our offerings has come from increased, enthusiastic support on all levels: from families of current students, friends, administrators, teachers, and partners in the community. I have also seen more inquiries in recent months from community members in Newberg outside of Edwards expressing interest in JOY for their kids, which makes the work we’ve done with Edwards these last almost 5 years all the more validating and all the more needed beyond our one site.

As always, dear friend of JOY, thank you for your ongoing support of our project! If you haven’t already, please sign up to give recurring donations through GlobalGiving on our project page “JOY is a Kindergartener Playing the Violin.” Included below, in lieu of photos, are links to JOY’s new promotional video series as well as a recording of our Spring String Festival at Bauman Auditorium.

With a JOY-ful Heart,

Danielle Howard Dye

Links:

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Jan 24, 2022
JOY-ful New Year's Resolutions!

By Danielle Howard Dye | Program Coordinator, JOY Project

Hello Friends of JOY!

Now that January is in full swing, I am sure you’ve started on your New Year’s Resolutions. JOY’s New Year’s resolution for 2022 is to expand our program offerings in Newberg and McMinnville. Here’s where we are at in this expansion process:

In Newberg, we are planning to expand our offerings at Edwards Elementary to serve all grades K-5 through both our In-School and After-School programming. This fall will also mark 5 years of JOY with the start of our program at Edwards, and we got big things planned! One of our plans is to begin transitioning our students into the middle school orchestras at Newberg School District. In addition, we are coordinating meetings with an additional elementary school to start another JOY site in 2022.

In McMinnville, we are planning to expand to Sue Buel Elementary School in Fall 2022 pending final approval from district personnel. Once approved, JOY aims to secure funding to cover needs for the new site, which would cover instruments, supplies for box violins, hiring a contracted Teaching Artist, music, and other related costs.

The push to expand our offerings has come from increased, enthusiastic support on all levels: from parents and households of current students, friends of students, administrators, teachers, and partners in the community. We’re so grateful for the multiple levels of support for our program!

As always, dear friend of JOY, thank you for your ongoing support of our project! If you haven’t already, please sign up to give recurring donations through GlobalGiving on our project page “JOY is a Kindergartener Playing the Violin.” Your support helps us continue to provide access to musical opportunities to Yamhill County youth. Even $5.00 a month speaks volumes!

I part with you today with some new photos from our JOY Summer Camp last August that highlight our visit with our friends at the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival (WVCMF). I love how despite the masks, you can see how focused and engaged the kids are! Photo credits are courtesy of Ty Cayatineto films.

With a JOY-ful Heart,

Danielle Howard Dye

Links:

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Sep 27, 2021
JOY Fall Kick-Off!

By Danielle Howard Dye | Program Coordinator, JOY Project

Hello Friends of JOY!

The school year is now in full swing! We have just reached the end of our third week of the year and we are finally back on Edwards Elementary campus for the first time in 18 months. While we are grateful for the time and space that Newberg Friends Church provided for us last school year, returning back to the school building where JOY began has been rejuvenating.

That said, the work we do through the pandemic is still not done. We are working through updating our COVID-19 policies based on new guidance that came out last week from the state to make sure our kids, staff, and the school we serve remain healthy.

In terms of what we have been up to the last month with JOY activities, here’s a brief look:

On August 23-27th, we hosted a JOY Summer Day Camp for our incoming 3rd and 4th grade students. We had some special guests from the Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival visit us on the Wednesday of camp to perform a few quartet pieces, answer questions about musicianship, and play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star together.

The next evening, some of our summer camp students got to perform Twinkle with our new quartet friends as part of the Yamhill Enrichment Society’s Sponsor Reception. They also performed from memory French Folk Song and Lightly Row during this performance. What a special week!

We hosted our third annual JOY New Student Kick-Off on August 28th, which was an open house-style event where we met the new students and families starting JOY beginning orchestra for the first time! We use this time to also communicate upcoming dates and information about the program and size for instruments. As of June of this year, we had 33 students register for beginning orchestra, which was the highest enrollment turnout for beginning orchestra we’ve had since fall 2019!

The week following summer camp, we hosted orchestra “study hall” time at the Chehalem Cultural Center so we could connect with students who needed extra help on their instrument and to touch base with students and families who were unable to attend summer camp. It ended up being a success and quite helpful for a handful of our students.

This fall, we are happy to report that we now serve grades K-4 at Edwards Elementary through both our in-school violin program and after school orchestras! Even two years ago, this sort of progress was a dream. As we enter fall, I know I will be eager to start our fifth year of JOY and continue planning opportunities for the future of our kids and the programs!

As always, dear friend of JOY, thank you for your ongoing support of our project! Your support helps us continue to provide access to musical opportunities to Yamhill County youth.

With a JOY-ful Heart,

Danielle Howard Dye

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