A Message From a Music Mom on Monthly Giving

Sami Braman (l) pictured with mom, kathryn ROBINSON (r)

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a music mom. 

Our daughter is grown now, but from the age of 6 when we took her to her first concert, she knew exactly which instrument she wanted to play and exactly which style she wanted to play it in. 

Every parent reading this knows what came next: We wanted to support her as best we could in this excitement of hers. I mean, your kid develops a passion—you do whatever you can to encourage it, right?  

For us that meant renting her an instrument, scrimping for music camps, and plenty of reminding: "Have you practiced today?"

We were lucky because she usually had. We remain lucky because she now tells us that she’s grateful we kept encouraging her. In her words: “You were just helping me do what it would take to make my dream come true.” 

One of the joys of my life is my position as a board member of Seattle JazzED, and as such I’ve been thinking about that lately: Helping me do what it would take to make my dream come true. In making jazz education available to every child, regardless of their ability to pay, Seattle JazzED is an organization dedicated to doing what it takes to make kids’ dreams come true. 

How? Through the generosity of folks like you. Some donate volunteer time, some donate money through occasional gifts. I have learned that an increasing number of you are beginning to donate monthly—a sustainable method of supporting JazzED made even more valuable for its predictability. A regular pattern of support is support an organization can count on—support that enables an organization to take the steps it needs to keep getting better. 

A lot like the way practicing every day enables a musician to keep getting better. 

That’s why I have decided to make my JazzED support monthly. The truth is, JazzED is grateful for whatever is given, however it’s given. But just as my daughter can play best when her practice is routine and ongoing, I know that I can support best when my support is routine and ongoing. 

There are plenty of benefits to this set-it-and-forget-it method of giving, including that monthly smaller payments feel easier on the budget and are changeable any time. But the main benefit of our regular giving to JazzED? 

It’s what it takes to help make kids’ dreams come true.  

Will you join me in giving monthly to Seattle JazzED this GiveBig season?

Thank you for supporting Seattle JazzED today and always.

With gratitude,

Kathryn Robinson
Music Mom
Seattle JazzED Board Member

Make a monthly or one-time gift to Seattle JazzED by clicking the link here.

OP-ED: Cuts to Arts Funding Could be Detrimental to Students' Success

From Laurie de Koch, Executive Director

 At Seattle JazzED, we know that access to music education has a life-long impact on the well-being of students whether or not they decide to pursue music as a career.  A child who has access to music education develops courage and resilience. A child who has access to music education experiences the joy and validation of working in community with others, learning the value of deep listening, as well as the power of creative idea sharing.

As we witness the current budgeting shortfalls threaten a cherished music program at Washington Middle School (WMS), I am reminded of why Seattle JazzED was founded back in 2010. We are here to break down the barriers that exist in our current system. We are here to support young people as they explore their own pathways, and we work to ensure that there are opportunities for students to make music that they feel proud of, in community, with one another.

As a public-school parent whose children experienced the unsurpassed opportunity of working with Robert Knatt at WMS and Clarence Acox at Garfield High School, I witnessed up close the deep impact that these experiences had on my children, an impact that continues into their adult lives almost two decades later.  I also experienced the roller coaster ride of public funding that regularly threatened these important programs and often left many Black and Brown students behind.

Seattle JazzED was born out of an effort to ensure that the life-transforming opportunity of music education would continue to exist, regardless of public funding budgets, and not only for a select few who went to a certain school or lived in a certain neighborhood, but for every student in the city. In our community, we can support our young people by elevating arts education both in and out of our schools. We can insist that quality music education can be an indicator of a quality education.

In a perfect world, music would be fully funded in every single school and Seattle JazzED would not need to exist.  But for now, we are here, committed to creating the access that every single student in Seattle deserves.

Laurie de Koch is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Seattle JazzED. With a master’s degree in arts management and 25 years of nonprofit management experience, she has a deep commitment to equity in arts education.

Seattle JazzED was founded in 2010 with one simple mission: to make sure every young person who comes through their doors gets an excellent music education. The goal? That every JazzED student experience the life-changing magic of teamwork, accountability, and confidence that comes from a dedicated education in jazz, a quintessentially Black-American art form.

ArtsFund Awards Community Accelerator Grant

ArtsFund and the Paul G.Allen Family Foundation has administered a total of $10 million in funding as part of the Community Accelerator grants program, a historic investment in Washington’s arts and culture sector. Included in this announcement is a Community Accelator grant of $22.5K to Seattle JazzED to further sustain music education as an arts pathway for youth in the Seattle area.

The Community Accelator program grants range from $2,500 to $25,000 and are unrestricted (meaning they can be used for anything an organization deems necessary). Grant distributions were informed by a Community Advisory Panel who advised ArtsFund on the application design, outreach, evaluation and outcome, and included 12 panelists from across the state.

Since 2010, Seattle JazzED has been investing in youth to increase access to high-quality music education for students. The organization was created to address inequities in access to jazz education and provide an alternative pathway to the arts for all students. It serves over 1300 students annually, with all programming provided on a sliding scale and free loaner instruments for every musician.