Tuesday, June 30, 2015

We finished the 2014-2015 school year with performances at our high school graduation and eighth grade moving up ceremonies. Congratulations to all of our graduates!














Some of our alumni will go on to study music at Lehman College and The College of Saint Rose. We also have alumni currently studying at SUNY Purchase and Berklee College of Music.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Thank you to WQXR, Kevin Bacon's SixDegrees.org, and The Bacon Brothers for including WHEELS in the kick-off event for the Second WQXR Instrument Drive! Check out the video of WHEELS students performing at The Greene Space. We were fortunate enough to receive a variety of instruments through the first WQXR Instrument Drive, thanks to collaboration between WQXR, the NYC Department of Education, Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation and Sam Ash.


Sunday, June 21, 2015

Our first annual Elementary End of Year Show was a hit last Thursday! Pre-K and kindergarten students were supported by middle and high school students to put on an amazing show involving singing, dancing, drumming and visual art. The musical selections included pop, salsa, and Gahu dancing and drumming from Ghana.
















Our high school and middle school music students have collaborated with our elementary school students throughout the school year. One project involved building musical instruments from materials that otherwise might have ended up in landfills. This project was part of our school's winning entry in the NYC Department of Sanitation's Golden Apple Awards. Here is a link to our winning entry, which describes recycling and composting projects at WHEELS.



Thank you to DonorsChoose.org for helping WHEELS raise funds for books, metronomes, reeds and hand drums! Our students enjoyed sharing their experiences with DonorsChoose.org at a reception last week at the DonorsChoose.org office.


Saturday, June 6, 2015

One of our 7th grade music students was featured in two segments on ABC News! He plays piano and viola at WHEELS, and plays viola in the Harmony Program. He was recently part of an all-star group that performed with musicians from the New York Philharmonic.

Segment 1: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/day-life-music-helps-change-life-boy-underserved-31560292

Segment 2: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/children-philharmonic-31567314