SPOTLIGHT
Urban Music Program
Drop a beat or learn to scratch? If you are a student of AP Giannini and have enrolled in the Beacon/ExCEL after school program you can choose to do both by joining the Urban Music Program. Students receive instruction on scratching (want to make that indelible “wicka wicka awww” sound? Then you need to learn how to make 2 babies and a forward), creating beats using FL studio and Logic Pro and can even record using an electronic drum kit or synthesizer.
The program not only avails youth with a stunning array of equipment but also presents this with knowledgeable staff immersed in the practice of youth development. Youth are greeted when they arrive to Urban Music Program by the Founder and Coordinator Jon Bernson, and by the Instructor/Mentors (former students, now professional DJs themselves) Will Telgemeier, Michael Falsetto Mapp and Riley Largent with a club handshake. Students and adults then form a squarcle (not a square, not a circle) where the group does a daily check in. One of the rules of the squarcle is that no one is allowed to sit in front of or behind anyone; everyone (adults included) must sit side by side and treat each other as equals.
The program has been run by Jon Bernson through the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center for 15 years. Jon brings an approach to teaching that starts with “belief in a child’s capability.” From this starting point the Urban Music Program has been able to flourish and inspire students to channel their creativity through the production of beats and the real-time practice of DJing.
