Rock For Kids brings Youth Jam music classes right to the kids who need them most. Youth Jam programming takes place at Chicago schools, after-school programs, homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and Chicago Park District Sites. Rock For Kids determines the appropriate curriculum, provides professional music teachers and stipends for classroom assistants, purchases and maintains instruments and facilitates and monitors the music classes.

  

Current Classes

Youth Jam started with just 20 children at one site, and has grown to provide free music classes for 500 children. With 33% of children in Chicago living below the poverty line, the need to spread the joy of music continues to grow.

Currently, students at 15 diverse Youth Jam Chicago sites are studying: Ethnic Percussion, Choir, Guitar, Rock Band, Piano and Production classes.

Download: Youth Jam Site Map

 

Performances

Performances give Youth Jam students the opportunity to work toward a goal as well as to take pride in the knowledge and technique that they have acquired. Youth Jam students have been invited to perform at several public and professional venues including:

Millennium Park
Lollapalooza
Park West Theater
Maxwell Street
Whole Foods Market
Merit Fest at Symphony Center

Benefits of Youth Jam

Recent studies show that there is a direct link between music education and better math scores, computer skills, language learning, cognitive growth, emotional well-being and positive self-imaging. It is imperative that children are not denied the chance to grow, learn and excel through music simply because they were born into poverty.