JESSICA ANNE BARON (a.k.a. "JESS")
Founder, Executive Director
EARLY YEARS
Jess Baron grew up in Evanston, Illinois and was fortunate to attend the Martin Luther King Jr. Laboratory School in District 65 during two of her formative years. This experimental public elementary was the first in her hometown to become fully integrated. It not only taught children the blessings of inclusion and diversity, it offered classes in art, music and drama to students at every grade level every year. It was this early idyllic experience among others that inspired her lifelong dedication to integrating the arts into daily learning and made her an advocate for music education.
TRAINING & ACHIEVEMENTS
Jess is by training, an early childhood and human development specialist, a music educator, author, songwriter and the founder and executive director of Guitars & Ukes in the Classroom. She trained as a music teacher through college level workshops and private instruction but the focus of her graduate studies was developmental education and human development as the keys to learning anything. She holds a B.A. in Child Development and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in counseling families and children.
She is a lifelong acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter and performer who began teaching others to play when she was thirteen. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cal State University Northridge and Antioch University. She served as an educational therapist and human development educator in the Los Angeles area for many years before moving to Santa Cruz, CA and founding GITC there while teaching music full time in 2000. Jess and her husband, luthier Rick Turner raised their child Elias in Santa Cruz until 2007 when Jess and Elias moved south to San Diego and established San Diego as the home base for Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom. Up to that point, GITC had become nationally established, supported by forward thinking foundations and manufacturers, and it had outgrown the geographical scope of its first two homes as a program in development with the Community Music School of Santa Cruz, then the San Francisco Foundation Community Initiatives Fund. In 2007, GITC received its independent 501(c)3 designation.
PUBLICATIONS
Jess has authored countless magazine articles as well as eight books including her co-authored, "Let's Make Music" and the entire SmartStart Guitar series (Hal Leonard Publishing), Your Musical Child: Inspiring Kids to Play and Sing for Keeps (String Letter Publishing), The Green Songbook (Alfred Publishing), the newest co-authored SmartStart Ukulele Method for Beginners (Korg).
TEACHING FROM THE HEART
Jess Baron's collaborative style and dedication to developmental education have helped her gather, train and support a compassionate faculty and board of directors with rich and diverse skills and talents. Her background in educational and psychotherapy contributes important principles to GITC's process so students are less likely to fall prey to frustration, confusion or discomfort along the way to learning to sing and play instruments. Her training as a specialist in behavioral disabilities and human development takes every learning and personality style into consideration and she attempts to guide others in teaching slowly and deeply, paying attention and responding to students' experiences and needs. When choosing and training GITC faculty, Jess seeks music educators who are eager to make sure that students who learn differently will be fully supported in the program.
Jess Baron's respect and love for people and for music has helped GITC become a truly collaborative and participatory organization that is constantly being improved by capable individuals in the ever-growing GITC community. In addition to building partnerships with school districts and individual schools, Jess deeply enjoys her work within the music products industry cultivating positive pathways for business leaders and artists to make a difference for students while building a brighter future for music in education.
Founder, Executive Director
EARLY YEARS
Jess Baron grew up in Evanston, Illinois and was fortunate to attend the Martin Luther King Jr. Laboratory School in District 65 during two of her formative years. This experimental public elementary was the first in her hometown to become fully integrated. It not only taught children the blessings of inclusion and diversity, it offered classes in art, music and drama to students at every grade level every year. It was this early idyllic experience among others that inspired her lifelong dedication to integrating the arts into daily learning and made her an advocate for music education.
TRAINING & ACHIEVEMENTS
Jess is by training, an early childhood and human development specialist, a music educator, author, songwriter and the founder and executive director of Guitars & Ukes in the Classroom. She trained as a music teacher through college level workshops and private instruction but the focus of her graduate studies was developmental education and human development as the keys to learning anything. She holds a B.A. in Child Development and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in counseling families and children.
She is a lifelong acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter and performer who began teaching others to play when she was thirteen. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cal State University Northridge and Antioch University. She served as an educational therapist and human development educator in the Los Angeles area for many years before moving to Santa Cruz, CA and founding GITC there while teaching music full time in 2000. Jess and her husband, luthier Rick Turner raised their child Elias in Santa Cruz until 2007 when Jess and Elias moved south to San Diego and established San Diego as the home base for Guitars and Ukes in the Classroom. Up to that point, GITC had become nationally established, supported by forward thinking foundations and manufacturers, and it had outgrown the geographical scope of its first two homes as a program in development with the Community Music School of Santa Cruz, then the San Francisco Foundation Community Initiatives Fund. In 2007, GITC received its independent 501(c)3 designation.
PUBLICATIONS
Jess has authored countless magazine articles as well as eight books including her co-authored, "Let's Make Music" and the entire SmartStart Guitar series (Hal Leonard Publishing), Your Musical Child: Inspiring Kids to Play and Sing for Keeps (String Letter Publishing), The Green Songbook (Alfred Publishing), the newest co-authored SmartStart Ukulele Method for Beginners (Korg).
TEACHING FROM THE HEART
Jess Baron's collaborative style and dedication to developmental education have helped her gather, train and support a compassionate faculty and board of directors with rich and diverse skills and talents. Her background in educational and psychotherapy contributes important principles to GITC's process so students are less likely to fall prey to frustration, confusion or discomfort along the way to learning to sing and play instruments. Her training as a specialist in behavioral disabilities and human development takes every learning and personality style into consideration and she attempts to guide others in teaching slowly and deeply, paying attention and responding to students' experiences and needs. When choosing and training GITC faculty, Jess seeks music educators who are eager to make sure that students who learn differently will be fully supported in the program.
Jess Baron's respect and love for people and for music has helped GITC become a truly collaborative and participatory organization that is constantly being improved by capable individuals in the ever-growing GITC community. In addition to building partnerships with school districts and individual schools, Jess deeply enjoys her work within the music products industry cultivating positive pathways for business leaders and artists to make a difference for students while building a brighter future for music in education.
INFLUENCES
Among others, Jess's favorite psychotherapeutic influence is Erik Erikson whose work in child, adolescent and adult development is accessible, practical, joyful, curious and supportive of individuals to meet and address challenges,
and to achieve their potentials at every stage of life. She is also a strong proponent of understanding how children process information as this influences their ability to navigate in complex environments and form meaningful relationships. She recommends Thomas Hartmann's book ADHD Hunter in a Farmer's World to understand what is called Attention Deficit Disorder and Carol Kranowitz's The Out-of-Sync Child to explore neurodiversity and sensory Integration.
Among others, Jess's favorite psychotherapeutic influence is Erik Erikson whose work in child, adolescent and adult development is accessible, practical, joyful, curious and supportive of individuals to meet and address challenges,
and to achieve their potentials at every stage of life. She is also a strong proponent of understanding how children process information as this influences their ability to navigate in complex environments and form meaningful relationships. She recommends Thomas Hartmann's book ADHD Hunter in a Farmer's World to understand what is called Attention Deficit Disorder and Carol Kranowitz's The Out-of-Sync Child to explore neurodiversity and sensory Integration.
Trained in Orff Schulwerk and Kodaly approaches as a music educator. As a young woman, she completed almost four years of special education training in Behavioral Disabilities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before leaving pre-degree when that state of Wisconsin outlawed mainstreamed education during her senior year. She resumed her undergraduate studies later in California and earned her B.A. in Child Development from Cal State Northridge. She received the CSUN Alumna of the Year award for her innovative work in music integration 3 years later. Jess went on to student clinical psychology with an emphasis in child psychology and Marriage and Family Counseling, earning her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University, Los-Angeles in 1991.
Since her college days in Madison, Jess has devoted herself to bringing developmental and educational psychology to music education, eventually pioneering the field of Music Integration through her non-profit Guitars & Ukes in the Classroom. Her breakthrough work teaching beginners of all ages to sing, play guitar and ukulele, and to reach personal, academic, cognitive and behavioral goals through music is changing the nature of teaching and learning around the United States. The organization has made it possible for her to train many other master-level educators to take the work into school communities of all sizes and kinds with ongoing support from foundations, individuals and music products sponsors.
Jess continues to devote herself to the cause of making music accessible for educators and children through GITC and especially enjoys developing positive collaborations and partnerships as new pathways for access to the arts for students in Title 1 schools. Most recently she began developing Adaptive Music training for special educators, paraprofessionals and related service providers. This form of training with GITC is called AMASE: Adaptive Music for Achievement in Special Education. AMASE conferences in Southern California are now receiving support from The NAMM Foundation, the Qualcomm Foundation, the Nordson Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Jess remains active in classrooms and continues to draw inspiration by collaborating with other teachers and specialists to create best practices and purposeful new curriculum.
Book/CDs by Jessica Baron (Prior to 2007, Jessica Baron Turner)
If you are interested in learning more, we recommend this recent article in the San Diego Union Tribune by journalist Lisa Deaderick interviewing Jess, or listen to this 2018 radio conversation with Jess by journalist Jessica Grinspan on AKindVoice.org. You can also write to Jess at jess.guitarsintheclassroom@gmail.com
Since her college days in Madison, Jess has devoted herself to bringing developmental and educational psychology to music education, eventually pioneering the field of Music Integration through her non-profit Guitars & Ukes in the Classroom. Her breakthrough work teaching beginners of all ages to sing, play guitar and ukulele, and to reach personal, academic, cognitive and behavioral goals through music is changing the nature of teaching and learning around the United States. The organization has made it possible for her to train many other master-level educators to take the work into school communities of all sizes and kinds with ongoing support from foundations, individuals and music products sponsors.
Jess continues to devote herself to the cause of making music accessible for educators and children through GITC and especially enjoys developing positive collaborations and partnerships as new pathways for access to the arts for students in Title 1 schools. Most recently she began developing Adaptive Music training for special educators, paraprofessionals and related service providers. This form of training with GITC is called AMASE: Adaptive Music for Achievement in Special Education. AMASE conferences in Southern California are now receiving support from The NAMM Foundation, the Qualcomm Foundation, the Nordson Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Jess remains active in classrooms and continues to draw inspiration by collaborating with other teachers and specialists to create best practices and purposeful new curriculum.
Book/CDs by Jessica Baron (Prior to 2007, Jessica Baron Turner)
- SmartStart Ukulele for Beginners Coauthored by Tiffany Stalker
- 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
If you are interested in learning more, we recommend this recent article in the San Diego Union Tribune by journalist Lisa Deaderick interviewing Jess, or listen to this 2018 radio conversation with Jess by journalist Jessica Grinspan on AKindVoice.org. You can also write to Jess at jess.guitarsintheclassroom@gmail.com