about pmmp
Penn Music Mentoring Program
As stated on our homepage, the Penn Music Mentoring Program (PMMP) is a group of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania dedicated to enriching local K-12 students' lives through music education. We work closely with the music departments at local public schools to provide their students with several services, including weekly private music lessons, musical field trips, and performance opportunities.
We got our start in 1999 when Dell Case, a PhD student at Penn's Music Department walked into Ruth King's music classroom at West Philadelphia High School (WPHS) and asked her if he could work with her students. The next year, Dell brought in a few extra graduate and undergraduate music students to assist teaching lessons, and completed his degree program at Penn.
In Fall 2001, Dan Gonen, one of the undergraduates that Dell brought to WPHS and a senior economics major in the College of Arts and Sciences at Penn, decided to institutionalize PMMP. Under his leadership, we became a fully recognized, Student Activities Council (SAC) funded student group, joined the Civic House Associates Committee (CHAC), and grew to a membership of 25 students regularly teaching music lessons to the students of WPHS.
We have had many successes in the past and have plans for a major expansion in the future. During the 2008-2009 academic year, we estimate that PMMP's tutors donated a total of $13,500 worth of lessons to West Philadelphia students. In addition, we are planning to sponsor trips to see the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and the University of Pennsylvania Jazz Ensemble, and put on end-of-year recitals so that students can showcase their improvement.
Our 2011-2012 executive board consists of several students who have been active in the Program for many years. Feel free to contact any board member with any questions or comments you may have.
President |
Neeraja Konuthula is a senior studying bioengineering. She plays the piano and trumpet and believes PMMP has been one of the best things she's done at Penn. She is a member of the Penn TKD team and spends the rest of her time researching in a developmental biology lab. When she gets the chance, she loves to catch up on her reading and new movies.
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Vice-President |
Angela is a senior at Penn studying biochemistry and biology with a concentration in molecular biology. She has been tutoring with PMMP since her freshman year and is sad that this will be her last year tutoring with the program! She plays piano, but has lately been attempting to learn the guitar. She also tutors math with WPTP and is involved with PEG. In her free time, she loves to cook and try new foods.
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Outreach Chair |
Alice Yu is in the Class of 2013 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is studying Biochemistry in the Vagelos Program for Molecular Life Sciences. She has played piano, violin, and trumpet. She is also the Cultural Chair in Penn Taiwanese Society, and is a brother in Alpha Phi Omega. She also draws cartoons for the Daily Pennsylvanian.
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Finance Chair |
Emily is a senior at Penn double majoring in molecular biology and political science. She has tutored piano and violin for the past three years and is excited for another great year with PMMP. She also plays violin in the Penn Symphony Orchestra and is an editing manager for PennScience Journal. Her free time is mostly consumed by immunology research, but she also enjoys stalking food blogs and playing tennis.
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Webmaster |
Olivia is a senior at Penn, pursuing a dual-degree in international studies and health care management through the Huntsman Program. She has been a part of PMMP since her freshman year, as a mentor, as a site coordinator, and now as a webmaster. Olivia plays the piano and the clarinet and loves being able to mentor students through these instruments! Outside of PMMP, Olivia also enjoys activities such as playing the ukulele, designing websites (like this one), leading a Bible Study group, skiing, and discovering new cuisine.
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Click here to view our constitution.
While our primary programming is geared towards improving our students' musical abilities, our main goal is not to produce outstanding musicians (although that is a "side effect"), but instead, to produce outstanding students and young adults. As students of music ourselves, we have witnessed, first-hand, the positive effects that a love of and passion for creating music brings about in people. When music is properly taught to receptive students, the lessons of dedication and commitment are always learned. We know this because our teachers have inspired those qualities in us, and now we are dedicated and committed to inspiring them in others.
The notion that music education enhances all aspects of a student's life is not unique to us and it is not simply theoretical--numerous statistical, psychological, and educational studies all show that music students are more likely to do well in school, graduate, and have higher self-esteem than non-music students, even when socio-economic factors are taken into consideration (for more information on these studies, click here).
Teaching a successful music student usually requires a team effort, with contributions from him/herself, his/her parents, his/her school teachers, and his/her private teachers. Unfortunately, a typical 1-hour private lesson costs anywhere from $40-$60 per week, which comes to an annual cost of $2,100 to $3,100. Needless to say, this sum is beyond the reach of many students.
As a result, we intend to fill the role of a student's private teacher--working closely with a school's music department and enlisting the help of other organizations on and off Penn's campus, we will create a community where a music student can flourish.
Our mission is to enrich the lives of local K-12 students through music education by complementing the formal, professional instruction given through the public school system with Penn-student sponsored and community-supported programming inside and outside the school environment. In addition to PMMP's core program of providing individual instruction, PMMP will fill the gap between what a music student should have to be successful and what he or she is currently provided.
We see the Penn Music Mentoring Program as a broad-based, dynamic organization, run by Penn students with the financial, organizational, and moral support of a range of community organizations and foundations that serves students at all middle and high schools in the West Philadelphia and University City areas.
© 2011 Penn Music Mentoring Program