From Experimental to Exceptional: 2000-2019
OUR HISTORY
IN THE BEGINNING
GITC started as a beautiful idea to bring hands on music to general education teachers so they could become song leaders for learning. We hoped that these dedicated professionals could make it possible for students to sing in school as a part of learning any or every subject. Because so many teachers wanted to bring music into their own lives, supporting them to accomplish that goal- and to pass it along- became our first mission.
Our founder, Jess Baron, had created a developmental and simplified guitar approach for beginners called SmartStart Guitar so that children under the age of seven as well as older adults without musical experience could start strumming and singing without struggling. Teaching in Open G tuning (Hawaiian "Slack Key" and in particular, "Tarot Patch Tuning" made learning the instrument more accessible. Taylor Guitars loved the idea so they brought the approach to their fans, and with that, we were off! Fender Guitars jumped in with help for our first official pilot programs so teachers in Santa Cruz, Lemon Grove and Taft California and Lexington Virginia could be the first ones to give the idea a full-fledged try.
Thankfully, those first classes brought joy and learning to public schools in the hands of our first trainers, Bari Zwirn, Sue Duffy, and Ellen Campbell and about 100 amazing classroom teachers! Everyone was brave, excited and generous. Pretty soon, Martin Guitars and Godin Guitars started helping us out, then Dunlop Manufacturing sent capos and picks, and D'Addario sent strings. Levy's Leathers gave us straps and Acoustic Guitar Magazine told the world about it all. So with kindness and courage from all these folks- and inspiration from our founding artists Laurence Juber and Muriel Anderson, we continued down this road into the present moment. So many amazing companies and people have helped since then. We hope you'll look them up at this website and consider becoming a part of this movement to create "better learning through music!"
You can also read more historical details HERE.
THESE DAYS
Now, thanks to business sponsors, supportive foundations, artists, amazing private individuals and a hard working board of directors, for 21 years, GITC faculty members have been training teachers in public schools from coast to coast to sing, play, write lyrics for learning and lead hands on music with public school elementary students. Because over 15,000 teachers have trained with GITC - and about 1500 more train each year - our work is reaching about a million students each school year with integrated music making for literacy, math and all other subjects. GITC's efforts focus on serving students during their most formative years when foundational skills in speaking, reading, writing and thinking as well as interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence can grow quickly .
Please read more about our programs here.
GITC started as a beautiful idea to bring hands on music to general education teachers so they could become song leaders for learning. We hoped that these dedicated professionals could make it possible for students to sing in school as a part of learning any or every subject. Because so many teachers wanted to bring music into their own lives, supporting them to accomplish that goal- and to pass it along- became our first mission.
Our founder, Jess Baron, had created a developmental and simplified guitar approach for beginners called SmartStart Guitar so that children under the age of seven as well as older adults without musical experience could start strumming and singing without struggling. Teaching in Open G tuning (Hawaiian "Slack Key" and in particular, "Tarot Patch Tuning" made learning the instrument more accessible. Taylor Guitars loved the idea so they brought the approach to their fans, and with that, we were off! Fender Guitars jumped in with help for our first official pilot programs so teachers in Santa Cruz, Lemon Grove and Taft California and Lexington Virginia could be the first ones to give the idea a full-fledged try.
Thankfully, those first classes brought joy and learning to public schools in the hands of our first trainers, Bari Zwirn, Sue Duffy, and Ellen Campbell and about 100 amazing classroom teachers! Everyone was brave, excited and generous. Pretty soon, Martin Guitars and Godin Guitars started helping us out, then Dunlop Manufacturing sent capos and picks, and D'Addario sent strings. Levy's Leathers gave us straps and Acoustic Guitar Magazine told the world about it all. So with kindness and courage from all these folks- and inspiration from our founding artists Laurence Juber and Muriel Anderson, we continued down this road into the present moment. So many amazing companies and people have helped since then. We hope you'll look them up at this website and consider becoming a part of this movement to create "better learning through music!"
You can also read more historical details HERE.
THESE DAYS
Now, thanks to business sponsors, supportive foundations, artists, amazing private individuals and a hard working board of directors, for 21 years, GITC faculty members have been training teachers in public schools from coast to coast to sing, play, write lyrics for learning and lead hands on music with public school elementary students. Because over 15,000 teachers have trained with GITC - and about 1500 more train each year - our work is reaching about a million students each school year with integrated music making for literacy, math and all other subjects. GITC's efforts focus on serving students during their most formative years when foundational skills in speaking, reading, writing and thinking as well as interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence can grow quickly .
Please read more about our programs here.
FROM THE START, GITC WAS A "TWOFER" : A RESOURCE RECYCLER & A PROGRAMS-BASED NON-PROFIT!
Our charity is unusual because in addition to teaching, we also help provide instruments, accessories and subsidies to the teachers in our programs. A lot of other organizations do one thing or the other, but to us, they go hand in hand. This is why both non-profit and for-profit are so important to our grassroots approach. Together we are sustaining a comprehensive, supportive ecosystem. If you check around, you will find that many non-profits only donate instruments or only offer training. We do both. By supporting GITC, you make it possible for us to train and supply music educators and regular classroom teachers with tools and ongoing education that helps music survive and thrive! Thank you so much!
Our charity is unusual because in addition to teaching, we also help provide instruments, accessories and subsidies to the teachers in our programs. A lot of other organizations do one thing or the other, but to us, they go hand in hand. This is why both non-profit and for-profit are so important to our grassroots approach. Together we are sustaining a comprehensive, supportive ecosystem. If you check around, you will find that many non-profits only donate instruments or only offer training. We do both. By supporting GITC, you make it possible for us to train and supply music educators and regular classroom teachers with tools and ongoing education that helps music survive and thrive! Thank you so much!
