Press
Teaching Music as Team Sport
May 23, 2011
It’s after school at Hibbard Elementary in Albany Park, and the crisp strains of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony reverberates so in the halls, that you wonder why a teacher would be playing a recording or movie so loud.
It was just that perfect—the performance one afternoon of the talented YOURS orchestra of 8- to 13-year-olds at this Northwest Side school where 97 percent of students are low-income and a third are limited English learners. Read the whole Sun-Times article...
Youngest performer Emily Vazquez, 8, (center) and the rest of the string section practices on 5/19/11.
School Earns Cook County Excellence Awards
October 25, 2010
Two "Awards of Excellence" were presented by Cook County Treasurer, Maria Pappas, to People's Music School Founder, Rita Simo, and YOURS Project Founder, Deborah Wanderley dos Santos. These awards are given to a handful of outstanding individuals in various fields throughout the county.
Pictured from left to right: Deborah Wanderley dos Santos, Maria Pappas, Rita Simo & Denise McCracken
YOURS Project Founder Awarded 2010 YouthActionNet® Global Fellowship by IYF
Deborah Wanderley dos Santos Recognized for Bringing After-School Orchestral Music Instruction to Chicago’s Inner-City Children
October 14, 2010
The People’s Music School, the oldest tuition-free community music school in the United States, is pleased to announce the selection of Deborah Wanderley dos Santos, founder and Program Director of the School’s YOURS Project, into the International Youth Foundation’s (IYF) 2010 YouthActionNet Global Fellowship program which awards 20 young social entrepreneurs annually with a one-year fellowship.
WGN Video coverage of 2010-2011 Registration
Entitled "Camping Out for Free Music School, this piece ran on WGN-TV Channel 9:
Source: WGN Chicago
"Mom Strikes the Right Chord"
May 18, 2008; article written by Jennifer Sabella (photo by Chris Sweda)
Erika Gonzalez is not one to take no for an answer, especially when it comes to her children. The 25-year-old mother of three camped outside the People's Music School in Uptown for three days -- through rain and cold temperatures -- because she knows what having a music education could mean for her kids.
"Education is power," Gonzalez said Friday afternoon as she waited for enrollment to open Saturday. "When kids have too much time on their hands, they join gangs."