YOU BE WHAT?
You Be You Music Room provides contemporary music programming to students and culturally relevant, SEL-aligned music curriculum to teachers. We host 11 after-school classes and many private lessons in Nashville, 25 virtual classes for a global community of learners, and are soon going to offer services in Pittsburg, PA through our nonprofit You Be You Inc.
We started creating these zines for our students in after-school, many of whom did not have access to instruments at home. Anyone who is a musician understands how much music identity grows when we have an instrument. We wanted to send kids home with something that said "you are a musician." Something portable and individualized they could do quietly if needed, and would have regular access to. It felt good to send students from a very wide socioeconomic range home with the same tools. Students could return the following week, all having had similar access points, and able to work together once they were in the same space again.
In beta testing out the products, we've gotten amazing feedback. Our kids love it, and we think others would too!
What We Need & What You Get
We are raising 8000 for the following:
- 2000 - character makeover by illustrator, Jeans Jeans (https://www.instagram.com/howdymynameisjeans/)
- 3000 - 75 hours of creation and administrative time (at $40/hour)
- 1000 - Marketing and Promotion fees
- 500 - Consulting fees (child psychologists, culturally responsive consultants to make sure our product is developmentally appropriate and will never cause harm.)
- 500 - Outreach costs (time presenting to educators)
- 1000 - one year of materials and shipping
Perks:
- $15 - digital copy of our first zine!
- $30- print copy of our first zine
- $50 - 2-Zine Subscription Package: receive a printed copy of our first two zines!
- $100 - 4-Zine Subscription Package: receive a printed copy of our first four zines!
- $150 - A full year subscription! Receive 6 zines over a year.
- $200 - A full year subscription plus one accompanying 1-hour lesson with a You Be You instructor!
- $300 - A full year subscription plus 2 accompanying 1-hour lessons with a You Be You instructor!
- $500 - all of the above, plus a customized song by a You Be You teaching artist!
- $1000 - all of the above plus a house concert (in PA or TN only), or a customized 5-song EP
If we do not reach our full goal, we will send prizes, and use any profit to help subsidize scholarships in our programming.
The Impact
We will be the FIRST kids' music zine available nationally, if we reach our goal. Our zine is designed to be an equalizer, giving kids across socioeconomic spectrums the same high-quality, non-instrument dependant tool to bring the music in their minds and hearts to life.
Rich with social-emotional learning, and playful, contemporary graphics, we like to say our zine is "Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Mr. Rogers, meets AP music theory." We have seen kids in our programs THRIVE with the beta version, and can't wait to share this "tool" with kids all over the country!
Risks & Challenges
If we do not meet our goal, we will need to operate on a smaller scale, but still commit to delivering this product, in a way that is financially manageable.
- We are a scrappy team of creative problem-solvers used to making it work.
- We would turn some of our allotted time we are fundraising for (creation, administrative time) into in-kind time donation by our leadership.
Other Ways You Can Help
Spread the word and link to anyone you know in education, or with tiny musicians at home! :-)