March 8, 2015

Mr. Frank M. Clark

Chairman of the Trust Executive Committee

The Chicago Community Trust

225 N. Michigan Ave, Suite 2200

Chicago, IL 60601

Dear Mr. Clark:

Re: Request for Funding Support Consideration

On behalf of the Board of Directors and The Young Americans, we are respectfully submitting a request

for funding support consideration, which will be dedicated to our 2015 Young Americans Music Outreach

Program in the suggested amount of $50,000.

Since its founding in 1962, The Young Americans has remained a charitable organization dedicated to

the promotion of understanding and goodwill among people throughout the world through music,

dance, performance, academic education, and cultural interaction among Student Members and

their audiences.

Your funding support enables us to sustain our mission and programming excellence that our audiences

and participants have come to expect while ensuring The Young Americans’ continued excellence as a

distinguished arts outreach organization.

In 2015 we are introducing a new music outreach program in which we will travel to public schools in

Cook County, Illinois where funding for music and arts programs have been significantly diminished.

There, we will work with students teaching song and dance with the goal of exciting them about the arts.

The Young Americans Outreach Program is dedicated to:

encouraging music in the schools of our nation and the world,

training young people in performance arts,

sharing insight and understanding of different cultures, and

strengthening character and developing self-esteem, self-worth and self-discipline.

We are very grateful for this opportunity to submit this request to The Chicago Community Trust for

funding support consideration. If you should ever wish to meet and discuss with us anything further about

The Young Americans or how The Chicago Community Trust can make a difference, please do not

hesitate to contact us by phone at (951) 493-6753.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Kristen Humbert

Executive Director

Enclosure

A Request for Funding Support Consideration For

The Young Americans

a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization

Corona, California

To

The Chicago Community Trust

March 8, 2015

Submitted by: Primary Contact:

The Young Americans Kristen Humbert, Executive Director

Kristen Humbert, Executive Director T: (951) 493-6753

1132 Olympic Drive E-mail: khumbert@youngamericans.org

Corona, CA 92881

T: (951) 493-6753

Website: www.youngamericans.org

INTRODUCTION

The Young Americans respectfully requests funding support consideration, which will be dedicated to our

2015 Young Americans Music Outreach Program in the suggested amount of $50,000

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Young Americans was established in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson as a singing group that appeared

on popular variety shows singing and dancing with stars like Judy Garland, Julie Andrews and Dean

Martin.i The Young Americans are now dedicated to “the promotion of understanding and goodwill among

people throughout the world, using music, dance, performance, and academic education as a catalyst for

multi-cultural interaction around the world.”ii Our outreach expands to public school districts in need of

music intervention throughout the United States and beyond.

The Young Americans are conscious of the inequitable distribution of the artistic and cultural assets

throughout the Cook County region and the Young Americans Music Outreach Program addresses this

concern by appealing to schools struggling with arts education, or whose organizational budget cuts have

rendered the programs unfeasible.

Program objectives include identifying ten schools in Cook County whose arts programs have diminished

and provide the students at that school, and neighboring schools with a three-day performance workshop

at no cost to school. This workshop aims to encourage music in these schools, provide insight and

understanding of different cultures and to strengthen character and development of self-esteem, self-

worth, and self-discipline.

The Young Americans Music Outreach Program believes the music education in schools does so much

more than produce music. Musical training helps to develop logic and reasoning, emotional development,

pattern recognition, discipline, and working together as a team.iii These benefits do not end with the

schools, but communities that invest in creative education can prepare students for the 21st century

workforce.iv The new economy has created more artistic careers, and these jobs may grow faster than

others may in the future.

We believe that this project will introduce The Young Americans as a proponent of musical education in

public schools and the effects music education has on the cultural experience of any given community. As

a result of this program, we expect that there will be an increase in the interaction in public space, and

increase in civic participation through celebration of the arts, engage the youth in the community, promote

the ownership of one’s creative community, and broaden the cultural participation of the civic agenda in

Cook County. v

Implementation of this program will take approximately $50,000. This amount covers the cost of any

travel needed for the Young American instructors the cost of student participation, bus travel, and t-shirts

for the performance for each student who participates in Cook County. With the help of the Chicago

Community Trust, we hope to be catalyst to inspire the investment and growth of diverse artistic

communities in Cook County. Thank you for your consideration.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

The overall goal of the Young Americans Music Outreach Tour is to bring music and the arts back into

schools where arts funding has been diminished or eliminated. We believe in the value of art and its

ability to enhance and round out the minds and souls of youth.

Our overarching objective is to open up a child’s mind by inviting them to participate in the production of a

performance through three days of intensive workshops learning music, dance, comedy, and acting. By

doing this we believe the children will gain confidence, poise, and above all have the time of their lives.

The Young Americans strives to achieve the following program-specific goals:

1. Encourage Music In the Schools of Our Nation and the World

The Young Americans will encourage music and the performance arts in ten Cook County public schools by hosting three-day performance workshops in each school by June 2016. 2. Train Young People In Performance

The members of Young Americans will be given the opportunity to participate in a performance-based education emphasizing artistry, leadership, communication, and collaboration by providing instruction to Cook County students participating a three-day performance workshop by June 2016.

3. Share Insight and Understanding of Different Cultures

The Young Americans welcomes and encourages youth of all backgrounds to participate and contribute to the program, without discrimination towards race, gender, ethnicity, or physical ability. We encourage each child to bring something from their background to the program and share their experiences and knowledge with others.

4. Strengthen Character and develop Self-Esteem, Self-Worth, and Self-Discipline

The Young Americans Music Outreach Program helps to build confidence within children through teaching them to break out of their shell and become a part of something bigger. Our instructors are focused on helping each student find their place in the program and develop that confidence which will carry with them beyond our three-day project.

Some of our more broad institutional and educational objectives are as follows:

Institutional Objectives:

To develop an institution that is recognized internationally for its ability to train the finest performers and arts educators.

To provide courses of study that are of the highest standards and connect theory to practice so that students are prepared for life after college.

To offer courses of study that ignite the student’s desire to learn and equips them with the skills needed for a life-long commitment to learning.

To assemble a faculty with extensive professional experience in their fields and who are dedicated to sharing their knowledge and guiding artistic growth.

Educational Objectives:

Artistry – Students will develop their artistic voice and gain an acute awareness, understanding, appreciation, and expression of the performing arts.

Leadership – Students will develop and demonstrate application of ethical decision making, defined values system, diversity of knowledge and understanding of management and team leadership.

Global Perspective – Students will develop skills that allow them to effectively and professionally work across cultural boundaries.

Life-Long Learning – Students will develop critical analysis skills and be able to apply these skills to a life-long pursuit of knowledge.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

THE ARTS ARE PROVEN TO HELP IN MANY ASPECTS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The Young Americans Music Outreach Program aims to:

encourage music in the schools of our nation and the world,

train young people in performance,

share insight and understanding of different cultures, and

strengthen character and develop self-esteem, self-worth, and self-discipline.

Students involved in Music Programs achieve higher SAT scores, are more likely to graduate from high

school & attend college, and are less likely to be involved with gangs and substance abuse. vi

The Young Americans Music Outreach Tour travels all over the globe with the goal of inspiring children

and their teachers to participate in the arts. The program offered by the group is so powerful, that

oftentimes administration in the towns to which they travel are so inspired that they do whatever it takes

to reinstate music in their schools. They see the difference in the children immediately.

We have heard about the struggle in Cook County. Though we cannot reach all 329 schools in the

County, we would like to set up our workshop in at least 10 of the schools, where we can invite and bus in

as many neighboring school children as we can. The Young Americans will travel from Los Angeles,

California to ten public schools in Cook County, Illinois, where funding for music and arts programs have

been diminished, but have shown to be necessary.

"We are extremely concerned with music programs disappearing from our public

schools, especially when we see the direct benefits music has on our young

people every single day,

- Bill Brawley, executive director of The Young Americans.vii

“Success builds confidence and self-esteem and promotes self-belief. The

Young Americans is the ultimate holistic learning experience. It’s great fun, it

champions and includes all, it’s for every child.” viii

- Paula O’Brien at Colàiste Eoi in Dublin, Ireland in regards to the

workshop with the Young Americans

OUR INTENTIONS

While in Illinois, they will travel from town to town by coach busses and equipment Uhaul. The 50 of the

performance leaders will load into the school in the theater, gym, or other multi-used space on day 1 of

the workshop. They will provide their own equipment including a lighting truss, curtains, sound equipment,

and state of the art LED panels for a multi-media experience. All the school needs to provide is the

venue. Performances can take place in the gym, auditorium, or theatre. The Young Americans can make

a stage out of any environment.

The Chicago schools will also need to provide “host families” for room and board for at least two of the

members to stay throughout the 3 days of workshops. They will go to school with your child and come

home with them in the evening. If your child rides the bus to school, so will your Young American

homestays.

If the community is too dire financially to house the members, alternative housing can be arranged.

However, this housing experience, regardless of financial means, rounds out the adventure and allows

the participants and Young Americans to bond at a deeper level. These are a lifetime of memories in the

making.

When students are released from school, any student who wants to participate in 3rd through 12th grade

can come to the venue to meet the group.ix A successful workshop will contain 75 to 100 student

performers. They will begin by learning more about the group and what they do as the Young Americans

show a small, introductory performance. Shortly after that, all of the participants break up into groups into

different rooms to begin learning 60 to 100 songs for their show!

On the second day, the participants are released from their schoolwork to participate in the event. They

will continue learning their show throughout the day. They will audition for solos, learn dance routines,

and perhaps figure out where they fit in the realm of the arts!

When the third day arrives, the Young Americans begin preparing the participants for their show! They

will do a full run through of the performance with costumes, lights, and sound. They are there throughout

the performance to hold the child’s hand, sing the words to the song in their ears when they forget, and

dance beside them to make sure they remember every move.

THE PERFORMANCE

The participants will then go home with their families for dinner while the Young Americans stay to

prepare for THEIR show. The show is a two-hour song and dance extravaganza full of energy and

enthusiasm. The audience will be overtaken by the energy in the room and the emotion from seeing their

children perform with such excitement and joy. Some of them have NEVER seen this before. The first

hour of the show is performed by the Young Americans as a gift to their newfound friends. There will be a

15-minute intermission while the group resets for the second act….with YOU!

EVALUATION

The Young Americans will measure its mission and project activities both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Quantitatively, we will consider the program a success if the following metrics are achieved:

at least 50 students at each school participate in the program,

increasing our overall programmatic capacity as an organization, and

reinstatement of arts programming in at least 50% of the schools which we visit.

Qualitatively, we will measure success through the following:

acclaim from the public and feedback from students and families involved in the program,

excellent word-of-mouth from the community and our supporters, and

recognition and acclaim by our industry.

We will determine whether we have achieved these metrics through participant surveys and data

collection, family surveys, and post-program economic data collection. With our surveys we will find out

what our students enjoyed about the program, what they thought did not work well, and take suggestions

of how we could improve for the future. With our family surveys, we will find out if families feel that their

students benefited from the experience and how, what they loved about the program, and what they think

we could improve on for the future.

CONCLUSION

Over the past 53 years, The Young Americans has developed, funded, and launched a respected

institution serving over 3000 youth in one of Illinois’ most developed communities. We have created an

unprecedented level of communication and interaction among educators and diverse students, and it has

been proven that the situation of inequitable distribution of artistic and cultural assets has indeed

changed. As we approach our goal of improving the musically artistic environment of our community, we

seek to maximize the program’s impact by generating new workshops in Cook County, where funding for

music and arts programs have been diminished.

The funding is essential to our organizations development and implementation of the new music outreach

program. A $50,000 grant will enable us to reach our goals for encouraging music in the future Cook

County program, increasing civic participation through celebration of the arts and interaction in public

space. It is our sincere hope that the Chicago community Trust will collaborate with us over the upcoming

year as we work to build “diverse interaction for artistic community.”

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

REFERENCES

i Young Americans, “Who We Were.” http://www.youngamericans.org/. Accessioned February 25, 2015. ii Young Americans, “Mission.” http://www.youngamericans.org/. Accessioned February 25, 2015. iii Nuss, Kristen. “20 Important Benefits of Music In Our Schools.” National Association for Musical Education. http://www.nafme.org/20-important-benefits-of-music-in-our-schools/. July 21, 2014. Accessioned February 27, 2015. iv Nuss. 2014. Accessioned February 27, 2015. v Borrup, Tom. “5 Ways Arts Projects Can Improve Struggling Communities.” Project for Public Spaces. http://www.pps.org/reference/artsprojects/. Accessioned February 27, 2015. vi The Young Americans, Music Outreach/The Workshop. Accessed on February 26, 2015. http://www.youngamericans.org/index.php/the-workshop/ vii National Music Workshop Troupe Teaches Dancing at Vol State, The Tennessean. Submitted February 26, 2015. Accessed on March 5, 2015. http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/gallatin/2015/02/26/national-music-dance-troupe-teaches-workshop-vol-state/24082233/ viii Different Class at Colaiste Eoi, Dublin People. February 9, 2015. Accessed on March 5, 2015. http://dublinpeople.com/article.php?id=4540&l=100#.VNkJ3cSw_wE.facebook ix Ibib.