Center for Music National Service

Service learning is at the core of the MusicianCorps curriculum. Service learning is a highly effective approach to engaging students in their own education by applying new skills and ideas outside the classroom and in service to their community. Through project-based activities, youth develop 21st century workforce skills — such as creativity, self-direction, discipline, adaptability, collaboration and problem-solving. Check out the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse for more on the benefits of service learning!

In the MusicianCorps program, youth apply and strengthen skills practiced in the classroom through quarterly service learning activities, including student-led performances and community events. As the capstone of the program, each site completes a music-based service project that is designed and implemented by MusicianCorps students. Recent service-learning activities include:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service — MusicianCorps students from Think College Now Elementary, Sequoia Elementary and other schools helped lead community members from across the Bay Area for a day of song and service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Oakland School for the Arts.

Cesar Chavez Holiday Parade and Festival Fundraiser — The Mayor of San Francisco and other community leaders enjoyed the music of students from Horace Mann Middle School as they performed at a recent fundraiser for the annual Cesar Chavez festivities in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco.

Palo Alto Veterans Hospital — While most of their classmates took the day off for Veterans Day, MusicianCorps youth from June Jordan School for Equity and Social Justice headed to Palo Alto to make music at the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital.

As the school year draws to a close, MusicianCorps classrooms are preparing for their end-of-year service-learning projects. MC Fellow Laura Cambrón’s students are composing a song for patients at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. When the song is ready, the students will record a performance and send it to the hospital for their peers to enjoy.