Movie Monday - SNBC's Afterschool Program at A.P. Giannini Middle School

Check out this new video clip highlighting our afterschool program at A.P. Giannini Middle School. Music compliments of our own Urban Music Program! :-)

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PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: SNBC's Afterschool Program at AP Giannini Middle School

SNBC's afterschool program at AP Giannini Middle School currently serves 236 students each school day. The program offers three study centers, where students can study and get help on homework, and six project clubs, including Urban Music/DJ, Urban Dance, Cartoon and Newsletter, Peer Resource and Leadership, Flash Animation, and Mouse Squad.

SNBC's afterschool program at APG incorporates project-based learning into its program. Afterschool activities are organized into project clubs that students elect to participate in. Club instructors create weekly lesson plans that meet California Department of Education standards and focus on youth development. SNBC has been nationally recognized for incorporating project-based learning into its afterschool programs. In 2010, the MetLife Foundation and Afterschool Alliance honored SNBC by selecting the afterschool program at APG as a finalist for the Afterschool Innovator Award.

Students in the Urban Dance project club break it down on the dance floor

A popular project club at APG is the DJ Club, which is part of SNBC's Urban Music Program (UMP). Founded by San Francisco musician Jon Bernson in 1997, the Urban Music Program is dedicated to teaching and spreading passion for music. Over the last 15 years, UMP has worked with hundreds of youth to further their knowledge of DJ’ing and writing, recording, and producing music. The DJ Club at APG is one of five weekly programs operated by the Urban Music Program.

Students and instructors from the Urban Music Program/DJ Club smile for the camera

The Urban Music Program's curriculum is based on experiential learning: students learn by doing, discovering how to record and combine sounds by experimenting with Reason and ProTools. In the classroom, students, alumni, and instructors all work together. As students gain musical skills and learn how to use a DJ mixer and turntables, they eventually become the teachers. Former DJ Club participants Boris Coronado, Will Telgemeler, and Michael Falsetto-Mapp all got their musical starts as students at APG, and they now work as instructors for the Urban Music Program. They and many other DJ Club alumni have gone on to teach and perform DJ’ing and release records.

Instructor Will Telgemeler looks on as a DJ Club student makes a beat

Urban Music Program founder Jon Bernson assists DJ Club students

The Urban Music Program recently participated in the California Academy of Sciences NightLife event on January 12th.  UMP founder Jon Bernson and his team of DJ Club instructors shared an evening with NightLife guests, teaching them how to DJ like a pro.

DJ Club instructor Michael Falsetto-Mapp teaches a NightLife guest how to DJ

In addition to the DJ Club, other popular clubs at APG include the Flash Animation and Cartoon clubs. Students in both of these clubs are currently working on developing original short films, some of which will be shown at the SNBC's annual Film Festival, coming up on Friday, February 2012.

Are you a past participant of SNBC's afterschool program at APG? We'd love to hear from you - feel free to leave a comment below!

Welcome to SNBC's Blog!

Hello, Friends and Supporters of the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center (SNBC). Welcome to our new blog! In the spirit of sharing more photos, more videos, and more content, we'll be posting regular updates on all things SNBC. Although we are new to the blogosphere, we're excited to keep you up-to-date with SNBC's news, community events, and more!

We hope you enjoy the new SNBC blog! Leave us a comment to let us know what you'd like to see in our future blog posts - we'd love to hear from you.