Resounding Joy Gets $75,000 Grant to Expand Music Program to Three More San Diego Schools

A program that uses music therapy techniques to build bonds between teen parents and their babies is being expanded to three high schools, thanks to a $75,000 grant from First 5 San Diego.
           
Resounding Joy, a non-profit agency based in Carmel Valley, will begin implementing the program November 1 at Garfield High School and Victoria and Lindsay community day schools in San Diego. A similar program proved successful last year at Mark Twain High School.
 
“Sound Minds provides opportunities for each child to reach his/her developmentalpotential,” said Barbara Reuer, a music therapist who is director of Resounding Joy and will head up implementation of “Sounds Minds: An Early InterventionMusic Program for Children of Teen Parents.”
 
Reuer said the $74,823 innovative grant, which ResoundingJoy applied for, is the largest grant that her organization has ever received. 

“The objectives of Sound Minds are to increase school readiness for infants 0-to-3 years old, to use music to facilitate interactions between parents and their infants, and to use goal-directed music experiences within Cal-SAFE centers,” Reuer said.

Research shows that building attachment between a caregiver and a child is critical in developing the child’s cognitive and behavioral skills, and music therapy has been proven to promote listening and cooperative social skills, language development and motor coordination, among other things.
 
Older adults will assist music therapists in building multigenerational relationships with teen parents in Cal-SAFE centers at the four San Diego Unified School District campuses and to train school district staff in music activities. The aim is to serve at least 100 families over the year,including 89 infants, 31 toddlers and 67 expectant teen parents.
 
Cal-SAFE— California School Age Families Education—helps expectant and parenting students and theirc hildren. Operated by the state Department of Education, it provides parenting and childbirth classes, child care, career education and counseling, and college prep courses, among other things.
 
Resounding Joy trains a network of volunteers to use drumming, singing, percussion and rhythm to reduce stress, improve physical fitness, encourage self-expression and foster camaraderie of those in need across San Diego County.
 
 They help out at many faith-based and community-based organizations, including the Encinitas Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, Redwood Elderlink in Escondido, the YWCA, and the Third Avenue Charitable Organization in San Diego.
 
First 5 San Diego utilizes state tax revenues to promote the health and wellbeing of children from the prenatal stage through five years of age. It aims to assure them access to health care, growth and development screening, dental care, obesity prevention, quality child care and early education programs and family support, according to its Web site.

First 5 San Diego’s programs and services are funded through San Diego County’s share of revenues from Proposition 10, an initiative approved by California voters in 1998 that taxed cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Resounding Joy is recruiting older adults to help operate the Sound Minds program at the four schools. To volunteer, or for more information on the volunteer training programs, go to http://www.resoundingjoyinc.org or phone (866) 800-0197.
 
Fo rinformation about First 5 San Diego, go to http://first5sandiego.org/ or phone (619) 230-6475, or (866) 726-8831

By: Ron Ham

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