High School for Recording Arts

High School for Recording Arts
www.hsra.org
Ind. Charter School District 4039-07 • 550 Vandalia Street • St. Paul, MN 55114 • Phone 651.287.0890 • Fax 651.287.0891
Notes
Students and staff with Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
...[standards] "that don't simply measure whether students can fill in
a bubble on a test but whether they possess 21st century skills like
problem-solving and critical thinking, entrepreneurship and creativity."
President Barack Obama
TAKING HIGH SCHOOL TO ANOTHER LEVEL
High School for Recording
Arts: Overview
Classes are small. The
education is tailored to students' interests and needs, and
guided by faculty advisors. But
it's the school's respect for the
hip hop back beat and poetry
of today's inner-city youth that
make the High School for Recording Arts (HSRA) in Minnesota's Twin Cities a model educational program for at-risk
youth, grades 9-12.
Vision
Studio 4 is the bridge linking
students' musical dreams to
educational success. Using
their expertise in the recording
arts, technology, and curriculum, Studio 4 designs, develops and provides creative services and products for educational providers and learners.
Founder David "TC" Ellis, a recording artist and native Minnesotan whose own troubled
youth was redirected by a nontraditional education, is the
glue holding it all together.
Table of Contents
1
Mission
2
Program & Outcomes
2
Student-run Ventures 3-4
The HSRA Story
5
Our Challenge
6
Partners
7
International
7-8
The Future of HSRA
9
You Can Help
9
Overview
Building on the four pillars of Studio 4 -- Family, Community, Respect
and Education, along with music and the recording arts, High School
for Recording Arts builds self-esteem and marketable music business
skills into the lives of at-risk youth earning a high school diploma.
Taking High School to Another Level
-1-
Necole & Dera in science lab
HSRA Students Teaching ProTools to
educators at a CES conference
Mission
The mission of HSRA is to provide youth the
opportunity to achieve a high school diploma
through the exploration and operation of the music business and other creative endeavors.
HSRA Learning Environment
The HSRA learning environment is a
culturally sensitive, diverse, drug-free, adult
supervised, safe space that offers positive
mentoring, career and post-secondary preparation, and standards-driven, project-based
learning in a non-traditional educational environment. Embedded in that learning environment
is the belief that our students must be prepared
for a life of creative entrepreneurship. This
philosophy is represented through our students’
involvement in Another Level Enterprises, an
in-school, student-operated entity that incorporates various businesses normally associated
with the music industry into their daily learning.
The HSRA Program & Outcomes
Experiential learning connects core subjects
like English, science, social studies and mathematics to the music business.
Devon teaching Chris how to
create a CD cover in Photoshop.
By understanding the relationship between
academics and thier musical interest, students
gain mastry in business areas such as:
Graphic design (i.e. designing CD covers,
music websites, marketing materials)
Advertising / copy-writing
Engineering and production
Operating digital and recording technology
New artist representation
Artistic performance
Contract negotiation
Copyrighting and protecting intellectual property
Manufacturing, marketing and distributing recording projects completed by HSRA students and new talent.
OUTCOME
HSRA students receive music industry expo
sure, knowledge, credentials and recognition for
professional quality work.
INSPIRE
“Read and write yourself into freedom. Read and write to assert your
identity as a human…”
-- Malcolm X
Taking High School to Another Level
-2-
The HSRA program boasts several
student-run ventures.
Another Level Music Group (ALMG) is a student-operated record and
net label developed along with www.anotherLevelmusicgroup.com
and www.ALEworldwide.com, an online music and educational
community. Another Level Music Group allows students to explore
operation of the music industry firsthand as they discover and record
student artists, negotiate contracts, and publish and copyright new
music. ALMG manufactures, markets, and distributes recording
projects completed by HSRA students and other student artists worldwide and provides participating students with valuable entrepreneurial
skills to start their own businesses. To date, ALMG has released eight
CDs produced by HSRA students and additional CD projects from
students at schools across the country.
“Wow, these kids are really talented” -- Ross Raihala
(Pop Music Critic, St. Paul Pioneer Press)
Another Level Enterprises is a school-wide student-operated business
entity that provides hands-on experiences in various areas of the music
industry. These areas include music production, publishing, performance, radio broadcasting, marketing, promotion, merchandising, web
development and graphic art. Some of these businesses include
Another Level Music Group, Another Level Entertainment, a sound and
production company that provides state-of-the-art equipment and professional services for various clients and activities such as corporate
meetings, special events, concerts and forums, and Sweat Equity
Enterprises (SEE) which designs groundbreaking collaborations
between youth and industry.
Taking High School to Another Level
-3-
ENTERPRISES
HSRA students with rapper/actor Ice Cube.
Lynn Whitfield
The Fo-Show, a half-hour student
produced weekly radio program,
airs Sundays at 8 AM on the
Minneapolis/St.Paul top-rated urban radio station B96/FM on the
Radio One Network. Guests have
included rapper Chingy, professor
and activist Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and actress Lynn Whitfield.
These shows are available for
download as Podcasts at
www.TheFoShow.com or on the
iTunes Music Store.
Community Service
Community service is also a strong component of HSRA's educational process. One student service learning project of note – Get Ready
– is an early intervention and college awareness
program that prepares youngsters from economically and racially underrepresented groups
for post-secondary education. The program involves a HSRA curriculum, skits and a music
Political activist, Kevin Powell
addresses the student body.
Chingy
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
CD. Targeted students receive college planning
information, academic tutoring, as well as career
and higher education options. Get Ready prepares elementary, middle and high school students for post-secondary education by giving
them motivational tools and experiences that encourage high school graduation and the pursuit
of a post-secondary education options. Get
Ready has distributed more than 5,000 music
CDs to 19 middle schools since the program began in 2006.
Taking High School to Another Level
-4-
The HSRA story
True Confessions
Released 1991 Warner Bros.
Launched as an educational pilot program in 1996,
HSRA is the vision of recording artist and rap lyricist
David "TC" Ellis who gained
fame in the 1980s as the
first artist to release a rap
record in Minnesota. The
regional success of "Twin
City Rap" earned Ellis the
notice of music legend
Prince and a Warner Bros
recording contract at Paisley Park. His works include
the movie soundtrack for
Graffiti Bridge as a member
of the New Power Generation.
Eventually, Ellis started his
own production company,
Studio 4, where a number of
young black artists who had
dropped out of high school
soon became a permanent
presence. These young artists would ask Ellis questions about recording their
music, copyrighting and
publishing their work, reading and understanding a recording contract, etc. Guiding them through the creative and business process
of the recording industry,
Ellis was struck by the way
the youth naturally embraced academic subjects
that supported their pursuit
of music careers. With that
realization, and after a twoyear pilot program, the High
School for Recording Arts
was born. It received a
charter from the Minnesota
Department of Education
and emerging as the only
public school of its kind in
the United States.
HSRA Today
The High School for Recording
Arts is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit
corporation and remains the
only recording arts school of
its kind in the United States.
Based on the small schools
model concept, annual school
enrollment averages 200 students; faculty and staff number
about 30; the student/advisor
ratio (HSRA teachers are
called advisors) is 20 to 1.
The school targets youth who
have opted out of traditional
schools in favor of a creative,
non-traditional setting with an
educational culture that better
fits their learning styles and
needs. HSRA students have
the opportunity to (1) obtain a
high school diploma
Taking High School to Another Level
-5-
while learning about the music/
recording business and (2)
create a professional webbased digital portfolio that includes a résumé and college
acceptance letter.
Students are recruited through
a variety of methods (i.e. public
announcements, open house
events, HSRA student visits to
area middle schools, etc.) including word of mouth and
HSRA student referrals.
To earn a high school diploma,
HSRA students must master
Minnesota’s content standards,
complete all coursework required for graduation, accomplish the 12 HSRA validations
of learning, and pass the state’s
standardized assessments.
Our Students,
Our Challenge
Who are the HSRA students?
Meeting an Educational Need
Sixty-four percent of HSRA students are
male and thirty-six percent are female. AfricanAmerican students comprise the largest racial/
ethnic group at HSRA at eighty-eight percent of
the student population. Six percent of the students are Caucasian and four percent are Hispanic.
While Minnesota has one of the best educational systems in the country, boasting lower
than average high school dropout rates, high
graduation rates and a well educated workforce,
the educational reality is much different for students of color. More than half of all African
American (63%), American Indian (57%), and
Hispanic (53%) students living in Minnesota
graduate late or not at all.
Many HSRA students are overcoming obstacles ranging from homelessness and gang violence to single parenting and serving as heads
of households with sick or drug addicted parents. Other HSRA students come from solid
middle-class and more advantaged backgrounds. Yet all HSRA students share a common need to learn within a non-traditional
school environment supported by an innovative
learning community.
No high school diploma means a life of unfulfilled dreams and potential. For racial and ethnic
minority males, no high school diploma often
means a life of recurring incarceration. Research suggests that 44 percent of AfricanAmerican men without high school diplomas
remain idle year round (or in a state of
joblessness).1 For HSRA graduates, earning a
high school diploma is a significant milestone in
their journey to personal success.
1 Sum, Andrew et al. (2004). Trends in Black Male Joblessness and Year-Round Idleness: An Employment Crisis Ignored. Boston: Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University.
Taking High School to Another Level
-6-
To the contrary, the HSRA educational experience is vastly different from typical secondary
schools in the United States. The 2004-05
HSRA graduation rate was 72.5 percent, which
compared favorably to the 2003-04 U.S. public
school graduation rate of 75 percent. The overall Minnesotan high school graduation rate of
84.7,2 the 2001-02 U.S. graduation rate for
African-American students at 56 percent and
the Minnesotan graduation rate for black students in 2001-02 at 54 percent.3 (All stats
gleaned from the most recent data available).
The difference between Minnesota’s graduation
rate overall and the state’s African-American
student graduation rates represents the widest
achievement gap in the nation.
-
-
Partners Aiding HSRA
-
HSRA is a grant recipient of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation receiving funds to
replicate the Edvisions project-based small
schools model.
-
HSRA is one of 22 secondary schools
across the United States designated as a
Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) Mentor
High School.
-
HSRA first earned accreditation in the 200405 school year from the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and
School Improvement (NCA CASI).
-
State Farm Insurance Click 4 Life is a teen
driver safety project that has been undertaken
by High School for Recording Arts students in
St. Paul, Minnesota and The Fo-Show with
funding from State Farm Insurance. This multifaceted project features a CD entirely
produced and recorded by HSRA/Studio 4
students, public presentations of driver safety
information researched by the students in
conjunction with the Humphrey Institute at the
University of Minnesota and Meharry Medical
College, a major Minnesota State Capitol
lobbying effort, a Click4Life.org website, and
weekly spots on “The Fo-Show.”
-
Lube-Tech is a local, family-owned company
specializing in worldwide industrial lubrication
and fuel product technology. Through Social
Venture Partners, Lube-Tech has partnered
with HSRA to implement Sweat Equity Enterprises, a non-profit, New-York-based design
program created to connect youth with industry and with real-world design challenges.
Lube-Tech has donated both money and time
to help our learners authentically connect with
the business world.
The Under the Radar Foundation exists to
focus attention on issues and people that the
news media has forgotten, while generating
resources to help those in need. In 2008,
students from HSRA performed at their
annual gala at the Dakota Jazz Club. Proceeds from that event will help continue the
artist-in-residence program that Under The
Radar Foundation has supported at HSRA.
Black Alliance for Educational Options
(BAEO) is a national, nonprofit, membership
organization whose mission is to actively
support parental choice to empower families
and increase quality educational options for
Black children. BAEO has recently awarded
HSRA a grant to replicate the school in New
York City.
International Connections
-
In 2005, HSRA Founder David Ellis was
honored as an Oxford University Roundtable
Fellow for his work with HSRA/Studio 4 and
invited to Oxford to present his work before
leading educators from around the world.
T.C. at
Oxford University
National Center for Education Statistics. (2006). Common Core of Data. The Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate for Public High
Schools From the Common Core of Data: School Years 2002–03 and 2003-04 E.D. TAB. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Ed.
2
3 Greene, J. and M. Winters. (2005). Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991–2002. New York: Manhattan
Institute for Policy Research.
To earn accreditation, schools must meet NCA CASI's high standards, be evaluated by a team of professionals from outside the
school and implement a continuous school improvement plan focused on increasing student performance. The accreditation process is
voluntary and requires annual review.
Taking High School to Another Level
-7-
-
INSPIRE
HSRA Development Director Tony Simmons
was invited to accompany Lt. Governor
Carol Molnau in the Spring of 2006 as she
led an official delegation to China’s Shaanxi
Province. The delegation sought to explore
new ways of building Minnesota’s relationship with its “sister state” and “pave the way
for new business, academic, cultural, and
humanitarian partnerships in Shaanxi.”
“The secret of education lies in
respecting the pupil.”
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Grave-site of
W.E.B. Du Bois
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial
Chinese Trade Center - Xi’an, China
-
In 2006 fifteen HSRA students and staff
traveled to Ghana, West Africa. During this
transformational trip the group experienced
first-hand the emotional impact and history
behind the transatlantic slave trade, and
learned how this history has affected Africa
and the African-American Pan-African experience through today. The team learned
about different cultures, such as the Ashanti
tribe, and participated in a traditional naming
ceremony where everyone received Ghanaian names. Highlights from the trip will be
presented on DVD and in a presentation before the HSRA/Studio 4 community.
In 2000 and 2004, a HSRA team traveled to
Guatemala as part of a humanitarian project.
Prior to each trip HSRA students studied the
Guatemalan culture, economy and political
system. Once in country, the HSRA team
worked with international social service
agencies assisting in a variety of community
development activities including the building
of homes for poor families. The highlight of
each trip was the sharing of HSRA students’
music while learning about and experiencing
the cultural sounds of the region.
Staff and students in Guatemala City
Daysha, Necole, Kelli & Kowanna
in Accra, Ghana
Temple V
Taking High School to Another Level
-8-
Bus to Antigua
The Next Level Showcase visits HSRA.
HSRA LEADERSHIP
David “T.C.” Ellis
Founder/
Executive
Director
tc@hsra.org
Tony Simmons
Development
Director
tony@hsra.org
YOU CAN HELP
The Future of HSRA
In addition to its current
12,000 square foot facility
housing staff offices, two studios, a conference room, classrooms and kitchen, HSRA has
an 8,000 square foot state-ofthe-art advisory and performance space designed by
award-winning architect Randall Fielding of Minneapolisbased firm Design Share
(http://www.designshare.com/fi
elding/projects.asp).
You Can Help
Whether donating your time,
talent or financial resources,
the High School for Recording
Arts needs your support. To
learn how you can help contact:
Tony Simmons or David Ellis
at:
High School for Recording Arts/
Studio 4
550 Vandalia Street
St. Paul, MN 55114
651-287-0890
www.hsra.org
Plans are underway to
build a new Twin Cities school
facility for the 2010-11 school
year and to replicate the HSRA To make an online
model in New York City in 2010. contribution please
visit:
www.hsra.org/about
Taking High School to Another Level
-9-
Bryan Rossi
Program Director
bryan@hsra.org
Paula Anderson
Education
Director
paula@hsra.org
Olubukola Ige
ALR President
igeo@hsra.org
Notes
www.hsra.org
www.studio-4.com
©2006 Studio 4 Enterprises Inc.
www.anotherlevelrecords.com
www.alrw.org
Studio 4 Enterprises Inc.
High School for Recording Arts
550 Vandalia Street
Saint Paul, MN 55114
651.287.0890