December 2020

Nearly a decade ago, I helped transform a public elementary school in Alameda, CA into an arts-integrated elementary school, Maya Lin School. Through this, I learned about the Studio Habits of Mind (SHoM), a framework for learning. Developed by a team of researchers and educators at Harvard’s Project Zero, the eight SHoM are: develop craft, engage and persist, envision, express, observe, reflect, stretch and explore, and understand arts worlds.

El Sistema Hong Kong, an organization based in both Tin Shui Wai and Western District, provides music education to over 50 children and senior citizens. Currently, we are happy to partner with the Hong Kong Children In Need Foundation (HKCIN) to launch a project called “IN School Program.” This program is designed to teach (in Cantonese) ensemble playing at Public Primary Schools, with a team of music school graduates who have been training since last August. For the first year, we are working with three primary schools.

BLUME Haiti uses the extraordinary impact of music as a tool to empower musicians throughout Haiti. Responding to urgent needs after the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, co-founder Janet Anthony, who has taught in the country since 1996, saw the opportunity for an organization that could facilitate getting instruments and supplies to Haiti to help with rebuilding efforts. Thus, with the help of her colleagues and students, BLUME Haiti was born.