C. Ron Allen
Boca Raton, FL – Busy schedules during the school year often limit time spent on music lessons. That’s why the Boca Raton Tribune is partnering with one of our local youth agencies to send budding musicians to a weeklong, multi-venue learning experience over the winter break. They will receive a rare chance to try a new instrument, deepen their mettle on one they’re already studying, or build on their knowledge of music instruction.
Through this priceless, fun-filled experience, a team of highly qualified and internationally traveled instructors will teach 35 local middle and high school students the social and historic importance of the Blues, the importance of critical thinking and collaboration, how to read music, improvise, play by ear as well as to perform with confidence at the Fernando Jones’ Blues Camp International-Palm Beach 2020. Students are chosen based on auditions.
An additional 10 former Blues Kids from around the country will attend the camp. This youth development live music project is designed to promote global citizenship, academic excellence, discipline, collegiality and musicianship with a focus on learning to perform songs by ear. It has long been known that students who study music usually excel academically.
This summer, I traveled to Chicago to watch that city’s Blue Kids Foundation present Fernando Jones’ Blues Camp in conjunction with Columbia College. Jones, founder of the Blues Camp concept, is a highly respected blues figure in Chicago and music professor at Columbia College, Chicago. He has produced blues music camps around the world since 2010 and has been performing professionally for more than 30 years.
I was so impressed to see how fast students were able to craft lines into very singable odes, while empathizing with their campmates’ sagas. It was more than a history lesson; it was captivation. I
watched youth go from scribblers to lyricists, shy to stage-ready in just a few days.
The camp, which is hosted by KOP Mentoring Network and sponsored in part by the Riviera Beach CDC, will be held at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach from Dec. 29 until Jan. 4. The campers will attend workshops from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and will perform in front of friends, family and the general public at various locations across Palm Beach County in the evening. There, they will demonstrate and present what they learned in class.
On Jan. 30, they will perform at the Riviera Beach Marina Village and Tuesday, Jan. 31, they are scheduled to present at Faith’s Place in West Palm Beach. After a break on New Year’s Day, they will show out at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth Thursday night and Friday night, they will be at the Paradise Lounge in Delray Beach.
The camp will conclude on Jan. 4 at 2 p.m. at the Arts Garage.
Among the highlights of the week will be the integration of a range of fun enriching activities – learning about marine and undersea life from Florida Fishing Academy and painting on canvas from The Great Paint Escape on Wheels – into the student’s daily schedules, making the educational experience richer and more memorable.
These children stand to reap huge benefits from this cultural enrichment experience. They’ll build friendships and learn life skills in a nurturing environment with like-minded others. Your gift of $150 will provide a child a tuition waiver scholarship to open his or her life up to a future of boundless possibilities. Donors will be recognized weekly in The Boca Raton Tribune and on KOPMN’s website.
To make a tax-deductible contribution to the Fernando Jones’ International Blues Kids Camp Palm Beach 2020, visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/blues-camp-more-than-just-a-song#/. You also may mail your check, payable to KOP Mentoring Network, 401 W. Atlantic Ave., Ste. 09, Delray Beach, FL 33444. No donation is too small.
For more information, visit https://www.blueskids.com/palmbeach
Send a Kid to Blues Camp Donors as of Nov. 21, 2019
Brent A. Winans
Clarence Vaughn
Delray Beach Woman’s Club
Jeff Stern CPA
Lawrence Moncrieff
Leonard Mitchell
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority
(Editor’s note: C. Ron Allen founded KOP Mentoring Network, which has been preparing today’s
youth for life after graduation since 1991)