JESSICA "JESS" BARON
FOUNDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jess founded GITC as an educational pilot program in 1998 with the Community Music School of Santa Cruz. It was a wild notion at the time that had grown in response to academic teachers wanting to make music in order to make other subject matter equally engaging. When the work grew beyond local borders, the program was adopted by the San Francisco Community Initiatives Fund until 2007 when GITC earned its own 501(c)(3) designation. The organization relocated to the diverse and beautiful city of San Diego in 2010 when Jess and and her son Elias Turner moved south. She feels immensely blessed to live in such a fascinating friendly community where education and charitable endeavors are highly valued.
Before founding GITC, Jess taught elementary school as well as general music, first in Los Angeles and after 1997 in Santa Cruz, CA. During the L.A. years. she taught middle and high school human development education in the Mysteries program at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, CA. She was married for many years to luthier, Rick Turner, and they have a wonderful son, Elias, who is currently finishing his M.A. at UCSD in Secondary Physics Education and student teaching at Montgomery High School in Chula Vista.
Jess is an author with eight books to her name. The most recent is the 2018 SmartStart Ukulele Method for Beginners, co-written by Tiffany Stalker. A list of Jess’ books is available at the bottom of this bio. She is a lifelong acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter who began teaching people to play guitar when she was in high school. Trained in Orff Schulwerk and Kodaly approaches as a music educator and holding a B.A. in Child Development as well as an M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Jess has dedicated herself to bringing the wisdom of these approaches to guitar, ukulele academic education. As GITC's founder, she especially enjoys developing positive collaborations and partnerships as new pathways for creative and artistic expression.
These days, Jess continues to devote herself to the cause of making music accessible for others. Her passion for teaching keeps her active in classrooms as well as training teachers to complement her work as the head administrator and driving force behind GITC. If you are interested in learning more, we recommend this recent radio interview by journalist Jessica Grinspan on AKindVoice.org
Books by Jessica Baron (formerly Jessica Baron Turner)
email: jess.guitarsintheclassroom@gmail.com
FOUNDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jess founded GITC as an educational pilot program in 1998 with the Community Music School of Santa Cruz. It was a wild notion at the time that had grown in response to academic teachers wanting to make music in order to make other subject matter equally engaging. When the work grew beyond local borders, the program was adopted by the San Francisco Community Initiatives Fund until 2007 when GITC earned its own 501(c)(3) designation. The organization relocated to the diverse and beautiful city of San Diego in 2010 when Jess and and her son Elias Turner moved south. She feels immensely blessed to live in such a fascinating friendly community where education and charitable endeavors are highly valued.
Before founding GITC, Jess taught elementary school as well as general music, first in Los Angeles and after 1997 in Santa Cruz, CA. During the L.A. years. she taught middle and high school human development education in the Mysteries program at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, CA. She was married for many years to luthier, Rick Turner, and they have a wonderful son, Elias, who is currently finishing his M.A. at UCSD in Secondary Physics Education and student teaching at Montgomery High School in Chula Vista.
Jess is an author with eight books to her name. The most recent is the 2018 SmartStart Ukulele Method for Beginners, co-written by Tiffany Stalker. A list of Jess’ books is available at the bottom of this bio. She is a lifelong acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter who began teaching people to play guitar when she was in high school. Trained in Orff Schulwerk and Kodaly approaches as a music educator and holding a B.A. in Child Development as well as an M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Jess has dedicated herself to bringing the wisdom of these approaches to guitar, ukulele academic education. As GITC's founder, she especially enjoys developing positive collaborations and partnerships as new pathways for creative and artistic expression.
These days, Jess continues to devote herself to the cause of making music accessible for others. Her passion for teaching keeps her active in classrooms as well as training teachers to complement her work as the head administrator and driving force behind GITC. If you are interested in learning more, we recommend this recent radio interview by journalist Jessica Grinspan on AKindVoice.org
Books by Jessica Baron (formerly Jessica Baron Turner)
- SmartStart Ukulele for Beginners
- The Green Songbook
- YOUR MUSICAL CHILD: Inspiring Kids to Play and Sing for Keeps (String Letter Publishing, 2004).
- Guitarra de smartStart metodo y cancionero
- SmartStart Guitar for Late Bloomers and Baby Boomers
- SmartStart Guitar 43 Songs for Home and School
- SmartStart Guitar for Beginners
- Let's Make Music! Coauthored by Ronny Susan Schiff
email: jess.guitarsintheclassroom@gmail.com