Support Sistema Tulsa!
Our hope is that your gifts can connect directly with the heart of our mission and with the joy of our children. Thank you for your support and encouragement! #community #excellence #joy
Our hope is that your gifts can connect directly with the heart of our mission and with the joy of our children. Thank you for your support and encouragement! #community #excellence #joy
Give the Gift of Music to Tulsa Youth!
Sistema is celebrating its 10th year of service to the community. Hundreds of students and families have been part of the program since inception. The program has consolidated its practices creating a demonstrated social and artistic impact. Our students have translated their music lessons into documented achievement in areas of curiosity, grit, and social intelligence. We have tracked multiple layers of data over the past 9 years. Collecting data allows us to better understand the impacts Sistema Tulsa is producing:
Enabling Environments: Sistema creates a supportive environment where students feel safe, supported, and engaged, with opportunities for learning and skill development.
Program Experience: Stakeholders appreciate the program, particularly for its concerts, community-building, and musical learning. Staff and parents note improvements in students’ skills, confidence, and socialization.
Youth Skill Development: Students develop critical skills, including executive function, self-regulation, perseverance, self-awareness, and self-expression.
Community Impact: Sistema positively affects staff, students, and the broader community, enhancing teaching practices, fostering community and personal growth, and promoting equity and diversity.
Our affirmed theory of change:
- Positive, safe and validating environments grounded in community music education practices with a socio-emotional learning focus create resilient and intrinsically motivated learners that aspire to achieve in their personal, school and community life.
- Resilience and intrinsic motivation affect near transfers in social and cognitive development domains. We see students attempt hard work and not give up as a result or become curious about the world and other disciplines around them. Executive function skills are practiced as students learn, memorize, improvise, and coordinate musical activities and concepts. Inclusion in the Sistema Tulsa community becomes life-affirming over time resulting in responsible citizenship.
At Tisdale Elementary, students get to rehearse after school and although they’ve had a busy day, they still muster the energy to continue learning. In fact, this is a big reason why they come to school. “I just love to play in the band,” says a student. We know that our Sistema teachers make a difference in these students’ lives by helping them polish the sounds they make. This is about making progress each day and the students are very much aware of the hard work it takes to master something. We specially recognize Tisdale music teacher Mr. Ben Schmenk for his efforts in making this experience possible for the students. Bravo!