Springboard Foundation Photo Galleries
Program Spotlight
Hooked on Drums
Hooked On Drums™ brings the upbeat, inspiring rhythms of African djembe drumming from the Malinke people in Guinea, West Africa to kids in urban Chicago. We offer Hooked On Drums classes and youth drum performances through the Chicago Park District, local schools and community organizations. The program gets kids hooked on authentic, traditional music, allowing them to explore African heritage while sharpening their minds on a complex musical idiom with irresistible rhythms. Hooked On Drums™ is deeply committed to using African music as a vehicle for fostering creativity, curiosity, discipline, self-confidence and well-being in inner-city, at-risk youth of diverse ethnic backgrounds.
Website: www.hookedondrums.org
Afterschool Program Research
Early childhood education expert James Heckman concludes that a compliment of early education and participation in afterschool programs can reduce initiating drug use among youth by nearly 50 percent (45.8) while reducing the likelihood of them skipping school by half. (Investing in Our Young People, University of Chicago, 2006)