The name of the school is the New World Educational Center, a K-12 public school. One of the teachers, Ramona Wright, walked into Ziggies Music, which is the accordion vendor of Arizona. Ramona wanted to organize a music program for the school. She said she always dreamed of every child having an accordion. The owner Dionne Hauke, told Ramona, “We have a program for you!”
The Arizona Accordion Club Youth Program launch was held on August 18, 2009 at the New World Education Center in Phoenix. The 4th Graders are now taking part in a 2 hr per week class for the entire school year, centered around the accordion and music theory.
President Jack Dermody said, “Equally exciting is the successful outreach we have made to young people. You have surely noticed the growing population of youngsters who begin our meetings with the latest tunes they are practicing. And one of our greatest outreaches ever is to the New World Educational Center Charter School where we are teaching 21 fourth graders the 12-bass accordion for an entire year. The new year will see the youth program grow as we plan for an expanded program in the fall of 2010. The school is ecstatic with the enthusiasm of the students for the instrument as well as the commitment of the instructors.”
The music department head, Ramona Wright has gone through the school principal to the Maricopa School Board for approval to expand the program into the 5th grade for fall 2010. This means that there will be a beginner 4th grade class as well as an advanced 5th grade class.
The Arizona Accordion Club had created, as part of its strategic plan, a goal which is to provide an accordion program for any organization or group that they could find. As part of that plan, the AAC bought twenty five 12 bass accordions, paid for with donations from the members. The club was able to recruit six members of the Arizona Accordion Club to be the music teachers. The teachers volunteer their time to teach the lessons to a class and put together a curriculum using the Howell-Aretta method. The Arizona Accordion Club is the music program for the fourth grade which has 21 children. The teachers go in twice a week to give lessons, breaking them into small groups, according to their levels of ability. President of the Arizona Accordion Club,Jack Dermody, Leigh Dechaine, Pete Donatella, Ted Lee, and Jay Stevens are the accordion faculty. Dionne Hauke is the technician who takes care of all twenty-four of the 12 bass boxes that the fourth grade class uses.
The second semester of accordion instruction has begun. While the first semester was during school hours, the second semester is an after school program. The Arizona Accordion Club is pleased to report that 98% of the students stayed in the program. Every 6 to 8 weeks there is a concert, which provides a goal, motivation, and reinforcement. All of the arts are incorporated into this program including, singing, acting, song writing, and dancing with the accordion being an integral part of the program.
The students have free use of the accordion for the year with permission to take the accordions home to practice. This is the first time that the accordion is being offered in the public schools. The ACC is very excited about this new venture and is looking forward to its further development as time goes by. We will continue to keep the readers of the USA News informed as the year progresses.
President Jack Dermody said, “As all things seem to be going great. The AZ Accordion Club Youth Program project has been successful beyond our wildest dreams and I know personally that I have heard almost every member of the Arizona Accordion Club mention at one time or another how we NEED to get youth involved. Well we did it, we have them involved. Let’s KEEP them involved !”
For further information: Jack Dermody 602-237-5627
