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This summer, 6 Staff, 8 Urban Fellows, multiple volunteers, and scores of students around Newark practiced and played together outdoors and indoors, making music and getting to know one another. In this newsletter, you will get a glimpse of our summer through the words, videos, and photos captured by our high school media team, trained by one of our original interns - my son - who returned to help for a summer before starting his Computer Engineering Ph.D. studies at Carnegie Mellon. I am grateful to all of you who donated, volunteered, and kept us in your thoughts and prayers. We couldn’t do this without you!
Jee-Hoon Krska, Executive Director
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Summer is always the busiest time of year for Keys 2 Success...
The days are long and hot, and there are always too many moving pieces to count. It’s a hectic time, yet there was no doubt in my mind that I would come back to volunteer for a second year.
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We started planning for summer camp months in advance. For a while, summer seemed like a mythical creature slowly approaching, filled with aspirations and vaguely outlined logistics. But the weeks ticked by, and soon enough, we were loading pianos up and jumping right in. On the first day of camp, we taught in the Garden of Life, which is located in the Upper Clinton area of Newark.
Since I come from a school with a vast music department, the music classroom setting feels like a second home to me. However, the piano is not my main instrument. But, at Keys 2 Success, it doesn’t have to be in order to have skills to pass on. As I’m teaching a piece to a student, I’m also honing my own music skills. That’s one of my favorite aspects of Keys 2 Success that makes us unique. The idea is that you don’t have to be an expert in order to teach someone else. We all just need to be willing to learn.
It is quite an adjustment, though, going from being part of a huge choir and concert band to working in a much smaller, more individualized environment. It’s not something I’m used to, but I can see the clear benefits of one-on-one instruction. It’s rewarding to be able to provide that kind of attention and see each individual explore music in their own time.
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Jasmyn at Pennington Court Center of Hope (left) and The Garden of Life (right)
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For me, the most challenging obstacle was instilling confidence in the students. I myself have experienced many times the frustration of trying to learn a new piece or starting in a new group and feeling inadequate when things don’t come naturally.
Music may be a universal language, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
This summer, I encountered multiple students who were initially afraid to try, simply out of fear that they wouldn’t be good enough. I tried to encourage them by sharing what I actually believe - that the beauty of art is that it is never perfect. Art doesn’t have to be perfect in order to be great.
For me, the most rewarding part of working with Keys is not seeing the students master a piece of music (though I love to see it); it is seeing students grow and have confidence in their own abilities. Through that experience, I also have the chance to grow myself as a leader and explore art in new ways. Every day, I got to experience the beauty of music in a community outside my own, which made the long days in the sun more than worth it.
Jasmyn Srinivasan is a rising senior at New Providence High School. She spent 4 weeks in July as a volunteer teacher at the Keys 2 Success summer camp in Newark. She is now spending her days (and nights) for the next few weeks training with the New Providence High School marching band.
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Look Inside the Piano Bus 2.0
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Our Honda Odyssey is arguably the hardest-working member of the team. The newest member of the Keys 2 Success family makes it possible for us to expand our reach by taking music lessons directly to students "right in their own backyards" all around the city of Newark. Take a peek inside the day and life of our beloved Piano Bus!
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Summer STEAM Camp
A Video and Photo Gallery
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Summer allows both students and staff at Keys 2 Success to explore the arts in several mediums. Whether in gardens outside or indoors, students have the opportunity to learn and thrive within a group. This summer, in addition to piano, we also taught singing, drumming, sewing, Shakespeare, reading, art, and coding.
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The student is put directly into a leadership role in every project they make. They decide the design and the way the program reacts to others. Incorporating a STEM subject into our art-based curriculum is a skill that Keys 2 Success is happy to have shared with its students in this summer camp.
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