Eckerd and Barry University Partner to Improve Career Opportunities for Former Trouble

South Florida youth earns job after completing apprenticeship with master percussionists
By: Eckerd
 
MIAMI - Aug. 12, 2015 - PRLog -- Eckerd Project Bridge, a program which helps troubled youth and Barry University have found new ways to successfully prepare youth who have turned their lives around for the better after contact with Florida’s juvenile justice system. By offering an apprenticeship to Eckerd Project Bridge youth through a grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts folklore division, Barry University is helping provide a second chance to South Florida youth who need it most.

Three youth in the Eckerd Project Bridge program studied with master percussionists for 12 weeks as an apprenticeship and earned $15 an hour for lessons and leading workshops. The funds covered a total of 75 hours for each apprentice, or $1,125. On April 17, the apprentices opened the monthly Big Night in Little Haiti concert at the Little Haiti Cultural Center in a concert with the master percussionists. On May 31, at the Gato Gallery at Barry University the youth and master percussionists presented a concert recital.

Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) praised the efforts of both organizations for their innovative partnership to address the challenges currently faced by youth with little career hope.

“Thanks to the partnership between Eckerd Project Bridge and Barry University, these once at risk youth are being given the opportunity to turn their lives around.  Apprenticeships such as these are preparing our youth to join Florida’s workforce and ensure their successful transition into adulthood,” said DJJ Secretary Christina K. Daly.

As part of the grant, youth who have completed their apprenticeship have the opportunity to be hired to teach the craft they have just studied.

“Drumming has played a powerful historical role in transforming lives in the Caribbean,” explains Dr. Celeste Fraser Delgado, a humanities professor at Barry University who directs the apprenticeship program. “We see that same power of transformation in the lives of youth in South Florida.”

About Eckerd:
Eckerd Project Bridge is a program of Eckerd, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, that has given much-needed second chances to more than 168,000 children and families since its founding by Jack and Ruth Eckerd in 1968. Through a contract with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Eckerd Project Bridge serves six circuits in the South Region by helping 127 on any given day transition back into their home communities after spending time in a DJJ residential facility. To learn more visit www.eckerd.org. Follow us on Twitter at @eckerdyouth and “like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/eckerdyouth

Media Contact
Terri Durdaller
tdurdaller@eckerd.org
(727) 439-5421
End
Source:Eckerd
Email:***@eckerd.org Email Verified
Tags:Eckerd, Barry University, Drumming
Industry:Non-profit
Location:Miami - Florida - United States
Account Email Address Verified     Account Phone Number Verified     Disclaimer     Report Abuse
Eckerd Kids News
Trending
Most Viewed
Daily News



Like PRLog?
9K2K1K
Click to Share