Impact – Project Rhythm

Our Impact

Project Rhythm helps me get out of my shell… it’s like wow, I can do this? I can play the piano, I can write songs. It gives me confidence. It’s a really great experience.

~ Tamika, Project Rhythm Student

I learned if someone else isn’t good at something, to never criticize, instead give them positive feedback. I learned a lot about how to make songs, and how how to setup equipment and how to express myself through music.

~ Rayshaun (aka Happy Feet), Project Rhythm Student

Working with Project Rhythm for the past two years has been an amazing experience for my students. In addition to empowering them and increasing their self-confidence, they had an opportunity to problem solve and work with students other than their friends. They have learned so much about writing and performing; all the while having a positive and fun learning experience.

~ Diane Rigo, English Teacher, Brooklyn School for Career Development

This is a great program, it gives the kids the opportunity to be creative and helps their collaboration skills. Making something out of nothing is important for them. The kids get excited about the technology, making the music and performing it. Some kids who want to do the engineering, some who want to sing, everyone has an important role. There are a lot of kids who want to be in the program.

~ Miss S., School Liaison for Board of Education, Horizons Juvenile Detention Center, Bronx NY

Worked with about 20 host partners including 5 NYC public schools, Sesame Street Workshop, and the Center for Court Innovation

+1,500 children around the world

We’ve worked with over 20 host institutions and teachers

Testimonials

At first, I didn’t want to write because I wasn’t good at it, but I learned and I helped write the chorus to a song. I also didn’t know about technical stuff, but now I do. And when people had different ideas we would try it different ways and there wasn’t any arguing. There’s nothing you should change about it, it’s great.

Stephanie, Project Rhythm Student

The leadership we had of the production and engineering was wavy (cool). I learned new things about how to hook things up and how to record.

Rayshawn, Project Rhythm Student

It is a good way for everybody to learn about new things and be able to make some thing bigger than themselves, something more than music.

It’s a good way for us to learn about our potential.

Nyre, Project Rhythm Student

This is an amazing organization! I’m an art therapist and work with inner-city teens, so I know firsthand the far-reaching benefits of arts education on so many areas of development. I’ve witnessed Project Rhythm’s fantastic work at Camp AmeriKids. Music is something kids are naturally drawn to, and they generate their own enthusiasm. Their gains in skills and self-esteem are awesome to see.

Helen Ellis, Volunteer and Supporter

Well first I gotta say without listening, communication, creativity, or collaboration you won’t get far in this game. And that’s what I got from Project Rhythm. Since working with Project Rhythm, I went out and met new people and was inspired to work hard and I started my own company. I love what I do. Project Rhythm helped me find my goals in life.

Shingi, Project Rhythm Student

Project Rhythm allows campers to see what they have in common and to express themselves through music, the medium which is by far the most influential in their lives. It is nothing short of truly life-changing for them. That’s what Project Rhythm brings to the table.

Steve Kidd, Program Director, Camp AmeriKids

In here you can let yourself be free, you can say what you gotta say, you can let it all out, you can cry, you can laugh. Thank you for this opportunity. I could have been roaming the halls doing nothing, which I was doing, but I got a job and I’m happy for myself.

Danielle, Project Rhythm Student

Project Rhythm has opened my eyes in a positive way using a different and smart method, music. Some people help kids chase their dreams, but thanks to Jamin and Project Rhythm, kids live those dreams. They’ve impacted and continue to impact my life greatly and I’m forever grateful. Project Rhythm is inspiration.

Rodney, Project Rhythm Student

Confidence and teamwork can take you a long way, and that’s what you get from Project Rhythm.

Tyshawn, Project Rhythm Student

To see how these guys were really quiet and to see how they then helped to create music and make beats and started talking a lot and became leaders…it’s been really amazing to see the growth.

Timothy Ryan, – Staff, Camp AmeriKids

This means a lot to me. I never really had someone take the time out to listen to what I had to say.

Lisa, Project Rhythm Student

It’s cooperative and supportive and terrifical and I didn’t know it would be this much fun.

Jantee, Project Rhythm Student

Project Rhythm has had an enormous impact on the Camp AmeriKids program and has become a central part of our camp culture. The hands-on workshops led by the staff of Project Rhythm allows children with different skills and personalities to participate fully, whether on stage as performers in our Talent Show, or behind the scenes as song writers, composers, and editors. While learning about music, our campers develop collaboration skills, active listening, and learn how to support and respect each other through the creative process. Each child feels connected to the final product, and can proudly share it with his or her peers. For years, we’ve watched Project Rhythm inspire our kids to speak up, give their opinions and insight, and discover a deep sense of pride in their contributions.

It is so important, given the challenges that many of our kids are facing, to create spaces where they feel empowered and valued. It is wonderful to see children build self-esteem through a process whereby they discover their own talents and to know that they carry this confidence into other areas of their lives. We are incredibly grateful for the work that Project Rhythm has done with our campers and hope it can continue for years to come.

Gaby Moss, Executive Director, Camp AmeriKids

Being a part of Project Rhythm has been such an inspiring opportunity to build community through the arts with young people from a diverse range of backgrounds. As a teacher, I have worked intensively alongside Project Rhythm instructors to cultivate the students’ voices in a safe space and enable them to tell their powerful stories and build self-confidence. Carrying their voices from the page to the studio where they become agents in the production of their own work, I have born witness to the emergence of young empowered writers, directors, musicians, and engineers working together to solve problems and support one another as they meet their powerful reflections, sometimes for the first time. Project Rhythm is a refuge for young people in inner cities who work tirelessly to uphold tough exteriors and battle mainstream discriminatory assumptions and stereotypes; transforming bravery into beats, hopelessness into harmony, rage into riffs, and sorrow into song, it has been miraculous to be a part of such a joyful community.

Powerful stories and build self-confidence. Carrying their voices from the page to the studio where they become agents in the production of their own work, I have born witness to the emergence of young empowered writers, directors, musicians, and engineers working together to solve problems and support one another as they meet their powerful reflections, sometimes for the first time. Project Rhythm is a refuge for young people in inner cities who work tirelessly to uphold tough exteriors and battle mainstream discriminatory assumptions and stereotypes; transforming bravery into beats, hopelessness into harmony, rage into riffs, and sorrow into song, it has been miraculous to be a part of such a joyful community.

Samara Gaev – BAM/ Brooklyn Reads Host Instructor and Project Rhythm Ambassador

Case Studies

Case Study 1

Brownsville Community Justice Center

In 2014 the Brownsville Community Justice Center, which provides alternative sentencing options for young offenders age 16-24, invited Project Rhythm to run programs and train staff and students to run classes independently.

After a year of direct programming and teacher training sessions, they were off and running on their own! Their program coordinator Sharese told us two years later that it has become one of their most successful programs. The students loved it and learned so much that they created their own studio to continue the program on their own. They’re still at it today!

This case study is an excellent example of how organizations and communities can leverage the Project Rhythm method to uplift youth and impart valuable life skills through making music together.

Learn more about the amazing work Brownsville Community Justice Center is doing to keep youth out of incarceration and guide them toward being positive contributors in their communities.

Kaitlin’s Story

Everywhere 16-year old Kaitlin turned, including at home, she was told “you’re going to fail!” and “you’ll never amount to anything in life!”

School wasn’t any better. She felt lost and invisible in an overcrowded Brooklyn public high school. Not exactly the most nurturing environment for a teenager. Struggling to stay afloat, Kaitlin faced ridicule when she dropped out of school. Her only refuge? Music. Enter: Project Rhythm. What happened? She found a new self. In the Project Rhythm Program, Kaitlin made songs from start to finish – writing, playing, recording, engineering, producing, rehearsing, and performing. She experienced the transformative power of collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and focus.

Kaitlin continued on as a Project Rhythm Intern where she worked on special social media projects, and then attended a Project Rhythm Mentor Roundtable, where she received advice and guidance from seasoned professionals in the music industry. When we asked her what she learned and how she felt, she said, “I learned how to be more professional…far more patient…I started feeling more alive in school. I had so much to look forward to…I was doing something special, I mattered. Thank you Project Rhythm for the countless opportunities you’ve provided, you’ve kept me so engaged with school and you’ve helped me conquer the obstacles life has thrown at me.”

Danielle’s Story

In 2009, Danielle J felt lost and could not face the idea of sitting in a classroom after tragically losing her best friend to an unfair death at a young age. Government budget cuts made music-the medium which is by far the most influential in her life-virtually non-existent. For Danielle, expressing herself and overcoming her conflicts seemed impossible to do on her own, without a vehicle that could drive her feelings towards healing and productivity. But then, Project Rhythm came to her school for the first time. She took part in a Project Rhythm program, where she collaboratively wrote, recorded, produced and performed songs. She was empowered to express herself and collaborate in the creative process. She graduated from high school and gained the confidence and skills she needed to secure a job. Danielle continues her involvement in Project Rhythm programs and she continues to writes songs and grow through music. She said to us, “In here you can let yourself be free, you can say what you gotta say, you can let it all out, you can cry, you can laugh. Thank you for this opportunity. I could of been roaming the halls doing nothing but now I got a job and I’m happy for myself”