John Gerdy
The Community Building Power of Music
I was asked by Grant Station to write about the community building power of music for their website newsletter. Grant Station connects non-profits to potential grant opportunities.
Life Lessons From Painting: Your Self Portrait is Never Finished
Six months ago, I began talking painting lessons. It has been fascinating, exhilarating, challenging and more than anything, educational.
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Music’s Next Frontier: Healing
One of the fundamental responsibilities of an executive director of a music related non-profit (MusicForEveryone.net) is advocacy regarding the value and impact of music in our schools and communities. As I was a novice in this regard when Music For Everyone was founded in 2006, my learning curve has been steep. And the learning continues
John Gerdy WITF Interview
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
The Future of Tackle Football: The Bricks Just Keep Coming
Sometimes you can repeat a phrase or articulate a theory or belief so often that it begins to become simply background noise or, if repeated enough, irrelevant. I am referring to my ongoing use of the metaphor, “another brick in the wall” as it relates to the future of tackle football in America. It seems
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The Future of Tackle Football: Another Couple of Bricks in the Wall
An old friend called recently. We were catching up on news of kids, recent travel and various body aches and pains when he announced he had something to tell to me. “I’m quitting football.” I found this a bit confusing because at age 60, his playing days are long over. Besides, he played basketball in
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‘Strange Fruit’ to ‘Hey Jude’: Music Protests Large and Small
For my money, WBGO, which airs out of Newark, NJ, is the world’s finest jazz station. Founded in 1979, WBGO is “a publicly supported cultural institution that preserves and elevates America’s music: jazz and blues.” Due to the wonders of the internet, you can livestream WBGO anywhere in the world. In this case, I was
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Envisioning a Better Model for Interscholastic Sports
Athletes often use a technique called “visualization” to improve their chances of success. For example, the athlete imagines an act such as hitting a baseball or envisions reacting during a competitive situation. It is believed that if the athlete sees herself performing a particular skill, it will improve her chances of actually performing that skill
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Guns for Teachers? How About More Violins for Students?
Originally published in Lancaster Online on May 25th, 2018 As I walked home from the March for our Lives rally for gun control and school safety in Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s Binns Park, being one of millions of participants in the estimated 800 events worldwide, I couldn’t help but think, “Maybe…possibly…this time will be different.”The typical
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