* CYL Service Adventure *
Join CYL to serve in collaboration with a group of students visiting Denver from a variety of countries across south-Saharan Africa, with the Pan-African Youth Leadership Program. While making paper mache violins to support music education in Colorado, you will also be able to connect with youth from across the world. This is a super unique and fun opportunity!
About El Sistema
El Sistema Colorado harnesses the joy of music and ignites the potential in our future leaders through an immersive youth music education program that transcends socioeconomic barriers.
Since its founding in 1975 by visionary musician and economist Jose Antonio Abreau, Venezuela's "El Sistema" has used music education as a vehicle for social change. It cultivates an "affluence of spirit" which today brings hope, joy, and positive social impact to over 400,000 children and their families in Venezuela and around the world. Its founding principles include a team-based approach to collective, cooperative education characterized by trust, discipline, empathy, commitment, structure, and support for self-esteem.
Why Paper Violins?
1) The violins are made from paper and cardboard- low-cost and easily accessible materials. This means that practically anybody with a bit of paper, some method of cutting, and a bit of glue can have an instrument for the first few stages of their musical journey without having to spend hundreds of dollars.
2) From a developmental psychology point of view, very young students (like the 3-6 year-olds that make up our paper violin program) are not ready for the fine motor skills that playing an actual instrument requires. The paper violin allows them to develop their gross motor skills, posture, rhythm, listening, and ensemble skills so that, when it comes time to choose a real instrument, they are set up for immediate success.
3) Small children break things. A paper violin, when dropped, may cost $5 and half an hour of work to repair or replace. In the very likely event of a toddler-related instrument mishap, the cost of repair or replacement can easily reach into the thousands of dollars.
After two years of early childhood music education and a semester of kindergarten, our young musicians transition from paper violin to an instrument of their choice. "Paper Violin Graduation," as this event is affectionately known, is a supremely joyful celebration of the students' hard work, the skill and dedication of our teachers, and the generosity of the volunteers that helped bring their paper violins to life. The paper violins that you build will then be used for years to come to introduce the next rounds of young students to the joy of collective music-making.
Who should sign up?
This project is great for so many people! This is great for people who love music, arts and crafts, and hands-on service projects. Also, this is a great opportunity for students who are interested in exchange programs, meeting people from different countries, and exploring something new. If you have questions about the program, please email Lauren!
Adult Lead
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Lauren Steavpack, CYL Program Director Lauren loves serving on CYL programs with program partners like World Denver since she has a passion for international relations and community-building across the globe!
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