8&9 And Change The Play Mentor High School Kids
Being able to relate to today's youth can sometime be a challenge in schools. Times have changed. It's safe to say that if you can't change with the times, you won't be able to grab the attention of the young audience. 8and9 has been fortunate enough to partner up with a new program called Change The Play. The program goes into schools and sets aside time for kids to learn how make a career through Music and Fashion. The kids are separated into groups and are able to learn how to DJ, produce beats and also start a Clothing brand. Throughout the program the kids will learn the ins and outs of Entrepreneurship and be given the knowledge on how to start your own business.
Currently, the program is held on Mondays and Tuesdays at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, CT, and in Maloney High School in Meriden, CT. The first two weeks of the program were jammed packed with activities for the kids. DJ Lus taught the kids how to blend two songs together, which is a lot harder than it sounds. Along with the blending the kids are learning to use the same equipment that the pros use. On the production side of things, students were taught the basics in creating their own original beat. Each student layed down a track which collectively creates a beat when played in a variation of sequences.
The cool thing about this part of the program is that they all interchange within each other. Students will be able to create their own original beat through production and then mix or blend it with other sounds when DJing. Definitely a priceless learning experience for anyone wanting to get into DJing or music production.
Students also started IFB 101. This is the intro to Fashion Business, where 8&9 directly makes a impact. The students participated in numerous exercises to see where their head was at with in regards to spending money and what type of businesses they were interested in. Using the answers given I was able to show them how important branding is to a company. Students learned that strong core values are needed to create a company that will last and stand out from the rest. We plan to show students how to build a brand from scratch and how to use tools that will cost them nothing out of pocket. We have 8 weeks left and plan to get a lot of ground covered within that time. Stay tuned here to our blog for more updates on the Change The Play program.
