As the founder and executive director of a music related Community Benefit Organization (CBO), I constantly think of how to more effectively leverage the power and potential of music to impact lives and exert positive community impact. After almost eighteen years of leading MFE, I have come to appreciate that when it comes to potential […]
Music: The Community Impact Tool that Keeps on Giving Read More »
“The way to right wrongs is to shine the light of truth upon them.” —Ida B. Wells-Barnett Is systemic racism in our nation only a “Black problem?” Some believe so. Politicians, social scientists, and pundits often couch the challenges racism presents in terms of “What is America going to do about its ‘Black problem?”’ Before
Whether as an individual, business or Community Benefit Organization, it is important to periodically take an unvarnished, honest look in the mirror. Such self-reflection can reveal uncomfortable truths about yourself or your organization. We do not do that often enough. It can be quite painful when, after such honest self-examination, you find you might not
Organizational DEI: The Learning Curve Continues Read More »
When John Gerdy moved to Lancaster from Dayton, Ohio, in 1998, he was less than impressed with the vibrancy of the community. Fast forward 25 years later, and Gerdy, the founder and executive director of the music education nonprofit Music for Everyone, will publish a book on Oct. 24 about Lancaster’s revitalization thanks to its
Scott Lamar: The number of schools offering music education in Pennsylvania and the nation, is in a steady decline and has been for more than a decade. Reduced budgets and shifting priorities are often to blame. Music For Everyone is a Lancaster based nonprofit working to raise awareness and resources to strengthen the role that
My father was a successful high school football coach. He was an old school, three yards and a cloud of dust sort of coach. Nothing bothered him more than watching his offense fumble the football. Offenders of what he considered the ultimate football sin were made to carry a football around school all day, every day until the next game. Conversely, as a defensive minded coach, nothing delighted him more than when his defensive unit caused and recovered a fumble.
Why not flag football? It’s happened….again. A Georgia high school football player who came out of a game with an injury and then lost consciousness on the sideline has died, officials said. Dylan Thomas, a 16-year-old junior linebacker for the Pike County Pirates, came out of a game in the third quarter Friday night with
It’s not often that an obituary sticks in your head for more than a week, let alone six months. I can’t get the life story of CeDell Davis out of my head. Davis was a Delta bluesman from Arkansas who used a knife for a guitar slide to create a sound, described by New York
As has been well documented, athletic programs in our high schools have various impacts on the academic values and priorities and school culture and environment. For example, students involved in sports are more “engaged” in school and as a result less likely to cut classes or skip it entirely. On the other hand, a case
