Supporting Youth Programs: Totem Star at Youngstown
Tuesday Nov. 5th marked the first day of the Totem Star after-school music program at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. The staff at Youngstown has been excitedly anticipating this program for several months, as it marks the first step in our endeavor to reestablish youth arts classes at Youngstown. Totem Star co-founders Daniel Pak and Thaddeus Turner arrived with great enthusiasm, eager to work with teens interested in music and recording. The class provides students with valuable career skills as they learn to work with audio recording equipment in the Youngstown Recording Studio. I watched students anxiously gather around a piano to hear Thaddeus Turner explain their next task; it was obvious that the students were enjoying themselves.
The Totem Star music program is the first of many youth programs Youngstown hopes to offer in the upcoming year. We are working to create programming similar to that of the former All Access programs, which had provided diverse after-school arts classes free of cost to local youth. Previously offered classes included theatre performance, audio production, sewing and fashion, digital arts, hip hop, breakdancing, and more. Upwards of 300 youth participated in All Access, and Youngstown is eager to launch new programs that can further empower local youth through sustained arts-based learning experiences.
The partnership with Totem Star is a great first step. Totem Star is a non-profit multimedia, mentorship, and social justice education organization based in Seattle. Since 2010 they have served over 120 youth through partnerships with the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative, Neighborhood House, and Seattle Parks and Recreation.
However, none of these programs can run without funding. In effort to support this and future programs, Youngstown and Totem Star invite you to join us from 6-9pm on Saturday, November 16th for a Lu’au fundraising party. Proceeds from the Lu’au will support Totem Star classes at Youngstown in 2014, and the rejuvenation of the Youngstown recording studio. The event will feature dinner and drinks, as well as a full evening of performances including music from Totem Star’s co-founders Daniel Pak and Thaddeus Turner, youth poets and musicians, the Kanikapila Ukulele Ensemble, and a hula troupe! Safeco Field’s executive chef David Dekker
will be providing a delicious menu of teriyaki chicken, kalua pig, salmon, salad, fruit, rice, sweet potato, haupia, and poi mochi. Beer will be provided by Pyramid Brewing for those 21+ (please bring ID).
Your attendance on Nov. 16th is critical to ensuring that Totem Star’s programs, and future Youngstown programs, are met with great success. Get your tickets today, and help Youngstown fulfill its mission to offer quality youth arts programming in the Delridge community.