Project Grant - Round 2
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education
We acknowledge that while we can’t measure some things, we can measure the awareness created. For example: following this project, one of the ways we can measure the outcome is through the schools, via our singers – has their knowledge and attitude changed regarding their peers who may struggle daily? Have our singers created enough awareness amongst themselves that they can recognize when someone is struggling or needing help? How giving are they, and has preparing for this concert/project taught them to do more volunteer work and/or service in their own communities? We want our singers to know that not everyone lives in a safe environment and that through positive change, they can make a difference. We expect that following this project, many of the members of the Youth Chorale will see their peers differently, and we anticipate that they will request more service-learning concerts in the future. Our Youth Chorale of Central Minnesota singers will go into their communities with more knowledge and a better grasp of other social issues, volunteering, having a new attitude, being accepting of others, and having a better understanding of how the world works today. At the end of the concert, we can measure the reaction of the audience – a standing ovation and knowing that they will leave the concert hall with a sense of pride for the next generation of caring, responsible individuals. We will also implement a survey to measure their individual feedback. Finally, we can measure the number of singers participating, audience attendance, and ticket sales.One of the ways to evaluate is simply through observation – verbal audience reaction, verbal feedback from choir families, ticket sales, and support from the community. Following the concert, and in the weeks to come, the feedback from our choir families and the community will help us determine if our goals were successful, or if anything different needs to be done in preparation for the next time we collaborate with another arts organization. Another way to evaluate is that following the concert, singers will then take the skills they learned from rehearsals and performing back to their respective classrooms, places of worship, or community groups. The opportunity for young people to interact with other adult singers who love to sing, and the sustenance and further development of a cultural, musical, community are all benefits we expect to achieve from this project. This season, the Youth Chorale organization will be implementing a concert survey that our audience members can fill out online. We are looking forward to the feedback, but also to help fine-tune our offerings to the community. We would also like to survey our singers and get their feedback on the personal impact of doing a concert that deals with the struggles and, ultimately, the future of youth.
This project touched our organization and singers on so many levels. Preparations for this concert included learning music that dealt with overcoming struggles and rising up/looking forward to a brighter tomorrow, as well as collaborating with an adult choir from the Twin Cities area. Before and during the actual project/concert, statistics were given on the number of homeless youth in the community, how many were helped in 2012, as well as in the broader state of Minnesota. As a result of this collaboration, our singers have a better grasp of social issues in their communities and an understanding that not everyone lives in a safe environment. They have committed themselves to creating more positive change in their schools and among their peers. Many of our singers and staff commented that it made them realize how fortunate their family is compared to other individuals whose existence is a constant struggle, and made them appreciate their life more. Within the Youth Chorale of Central Minnesota organization, as well as our audience, this project created more awareness of youth homelessness and struggles in the community and beyond. We anticipated that this project would impact our young singers, but we were not prepared for the effect that it would have on them. As a result, they have requested to do more service-learning projects and concerts. We used several evaluation methods to measure the outcomes listed above, such as verbal audience reaction, verbal feedback from choir families, audience attendance and ticket sales, and support from the community; but the most effective were the audience and singer surveys that we conducted. These provided valuable insight on the emotional aspect of this project, but also gave Youth Chorale of Central Minnesota an inside look at how deeply our singers felt after the project completed. For many, the service-learning aspect made the topic of youth homelessness more “real” to them. It was an eye-opening and beautiful experience that was shared among the ensembles.
Other, local or private