Promoting music in school

To a hip-hop rhythm, students at Manuel Pérez School in Pilsen celebrate the continuation of their music program

http://www.vivelohoy.com/local/chicago/vlh-pp._3_musicamar12,0,1564972.story

By Leticia Espinosa
March 12, 2009

The majority of those living in Pilsen are from modest means, and in days past, they would strain to pass state measurement exams. They are students at Manuel Pérez Jr. School, who yesterday received a dose of inspiration and motivation to carry on.

A mini-concert of music in the gym of the school raised them from their seats. Upon hearing news that they would have another year in the after-school music program, they rose shouting with jubilation. And with their songs and dances, the men of Swamphouse, a hip-hop band, inspired them.

Marco Arce, a 13-year-old eighth-grade student, wants to be a musician and is one of the participants in the program sponsored by the George S. May Foundation for the Arts, which was developed by the PAUSE initiative (Positive Actions Using Self-Expression).

Arce commented that the program, which began at Manuel Pérez School, 1241 W. 19th St., during the 2008-2009 school year, inspired him to “analyze the possibilities of being a professional musician.”

For Sylvia Stamatoglou, principal of Pérez, it’s “important to rely on this program in the school curriculum” in the Pilsen neighborhood.

“The program motivates the students, and gives them an opportunity to write music, play instruments, and get involved in the idea of a universal language that everyone understands: music,” the principal added.

Daniel Hernández, 13 and a seventh grade student, said that this program helped him “fight stress.” He added that “it’s a good opportunity for those who don’t have another opportunity to study music.”

For the members of Swamphouse, it’s important to work with school-age children and other youth, they said, because “music can make miracles, save lives, and inspire students to not drop out of school and reach their goals,” said Pause, lead singer of the group.

 “Do something positive”

“If we help one young person spend his or her free time off the streets, out of gangs and away from other problems, that is sufficient payment for us,” said a member of the group.

After playing “Good Girl” and “Look at Me Now,” the group told the students to “do something positive with your lives, do something that you love and that makes you happy, and stay near good influences.”

“They say that music inspires people, and is a vehicle to generate higher grades in school; at Pérez school we appreciate the ability to get our students involved, which is a unique opportunity for many of the students,” said Principal Stamatoglou.

According to data from Chicago Public Schools, almost 99 percent of students at the school are of Hispanic origin, and the majority come from modest means.

Jenny Estephani León, 12, said that she is excited and ready to join next year. Paula Rocha, mother of three students at Pérez School, said that she is pleased with this initiative, and considers the program “important in the academic development of my three children.”

“Our Foundation is very pleased to announce a new round of funds for classes at Pérez School,” said Donna Werner, director of the Foundation. “We have placed the program in schools that never had opportunities to offer this type of program to its students,” she added.

Management Services Weekend Retreat – Southeast Region

The first in a series of 2009 weekend retreats introduced the new interactive teaching method now in use during Management Services advanced training sessions.
A group of executives from Park Ridge, Illinois met with Project Directors and Staff Executives Saturday and Sunday, March 7 and 8, 2009 in Orlando Florida.

World Headquarters Managing Director Paul Rauseo, Management Services Chief Executive Tom Hartnett, Management Services Senior Executive Mondher Smida, and Director of Corporate Communications and Training Donna V. Werner were all in attendance.

The weekend started off with a presentation by the Director of Corporate Communications (Donna V. Werner) who discussed the firm’s current web presence on www.georgesmay.com, www.georgesmaynews.com, and www.georgesmayblog.com. In addition to highlighting the differences of each site and their relevance to Management Services field employees. Ms. Werner emphasized the importance of regularly reviewing these corporate tools and also utilizing them with clients to better understand the scope and magnitude of the George S. May International Company.

As the Executive Administrator of the George S. May Foundation for the Arts P.A.U.S.E. Initiative, Ms. Werner gave an overview, an update and future plans for P.A.U.S.E. and also for the Foundation. In addition to approving several new programs, Ms. Werner also announced the addition of an online store at http://pause.gsmfoundation.org where supporters are able to purchase P.A.U.S.E.-wear.

The Managing Director (Paul Rauseo) discussed new GSMIC initiatives including the recent launch of the expense tracking and reimbursement system, “TnE.” After having been a user since its launch last year, Staff Executive John Thomas echoed the user-
friendly and high-quality nature of the software.

On Sunday, Chief Hartnett and SenEx Smida spent time coaching and teaching the rudiments of M.A.P.S. presentations, Managing and Supervising Productivity (MSP) and Sales Professional Selling Systems (SPSS) and their benefit to clients and their employees.

Three articles from Harvard Business Review (Turnaround Management Every Day, Moving Upward in a Downturn, and Seize Advantage in a Downturn) were used as teaching tools for those in attendance. The discussion and role plays using these articles were found to be useful with giving Staff Executives and Project Directors that competitive advantage GSMIC clients always find useful. The readings also provided material with which our consultants can remain current and up-to-date on best practices and methods in these distressing economic times.

GSM Foundation featured on ABC News

February 16, 2009 (CHICAGO) — With these hard economic times, many companies have scaled back on their charitable giving; however, one Chicago-based organization and its employees have stepped up and introduced a new program that supports music education in inner-city schools.

George S. May Foundation for the Arts gsmfoundation.org has launched the P.A.U.S.E. initiative, an afterschool music education program designed to give students direct access to music instruction. Recent budget cuts have limited music education, but P.A.U.S.E., which stands for Positive Action Using Self Expression, exposes youngsters to music and gives them access to instruments and music lessons..

“Pause,” the lead singer of the L.A.-based hip-hop band Swamphouse and Wisconsin’s Gaudete Brass Quintet performed live for more than 300 students when P.A.U.S.E. was launched during an all-school assembly at Edward Jenner Academy for the Arts. Through P.A.U.S.E., the students at Manuel Perez Jr. Elementary School and their families recently had an opportunity to enjoy a concert featuring classical music and professional piano and symphony performance by the Chicago Philharmonic at Northwestern University.

“Music inspires so many of our children to reach their highest potential, however budget cuts in inner-city schools often prevent students from learning anything about music,” said Israel Kushnir, chairman of the board for the George S. May Foundation for the Arts. “The P.A.U.S.E. initiative was created to supplement after-school music instruction that has been impacted by budget cuts, as well as give our youth access to music as an inspiration and vehicle toward higher achievement.”

The George S. May Foundation for the Arts, a 501(c) (3) organization, is a civic and community service extension of the George S. May International Company (GSMIC), a management consulting firm based in Park Ridge. The P.A.U.S.E. initiative was established by the foundation as a privately funded grant that awards financial assistance to selected programs and organizations that use music-based curriculums as a gateway to personal enrichment, community involvement, cautious decision making, and good citizenship.

Through the program, pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students in inner-city public schools and community-based after-school programs will learn to read music and play an instrument. Classes are led by Francisco Ybarra, executive director and founder of the Chicago’s New Music School. The pilot program has started at two Chicago Public Schools: Edward Jenner Academy for the Arts and Manuel Perez Jr. Elementary School. The goal of the program is to expand to inner-city schools nationwide.

.”I am truly grateful to the George S. May Foundation for the Arts for selecting Jenner as a recipient of this grant, “said Sylvia Stamatoglou, principal at Manuel Perez Jr. Elementary School. “Our students are very eager to learn about music in all forms.”

To help support the P.A.U.S.E. initiative, the George S. May Foundation for the Arts is also collecting musical instruments and other donations from the public. The instrument drive welcomes refurbished, gently-used, or new instruments as donations where children in the program can benefit.

“Our employees and the community have teamed up to help these students fulfill their dreams in music,” Kushnir said. “Whether it’s donating money or instruments, George S. May Foundation for the Arts is committed to bridging the gap between cultures and creating more opportunities for children.”

Donated instruments can be dropped off at the George S. May International Company, located at 303 S. Northwest Highway, in Park Ridge. For more information on P.A.U.S.E, or to arrange for a donation pick-up, visit http://pause.gsmfoundation.org or call 1-800-999-3020.

About the Performance:

Eight students from Manuel Perez Jr. Elementary School, directed by Ryan Berndt, will be playing rhythm and percussion instruments. They are trained first on these instruments, so they can learn how to read music and understand sounds before they can move to the next level of bigger instruments such as drums, trumpets, etc.:

Bass, alto and soprano xylophones

Bass, alto and soprano metallophones and glockenspiels

The song they will be playing is:

Sakura, Sakura — a Japanese folksong, in Orff Orchestration

Description of the instruments;

xylophone (meaning “wooden sound” in Greek) is a musical instrument in the percussion family which originated in Indonesia It consists of wooden bars of various lengths that are struck by plastic, wooden, or rubber mallets. Each bar is tuned to a specific pitch of the musical scale.

metallophone is any musical instrument consisting of tuned metal bars which are struck to make sound, usually with a mallet. Metallophones have been used in music for hundreds of years. Even though there are several different types used in Balinese and Javanese gamelan ensembles, including the gendér, gangsa and saron. These instruments have a single row of bars, tuned to the distinctive pelog or slendro scales, or a subset of them.

glockenspiel (German, “set of bells” or “play-[of-]bells”, also known as orchestra bells and, in its portable form, bell lira or bell lyre) is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It is similar to the xylophone, in that it has tuned bars laid out in a fashion resembling a piano keyboard. The xylophone’s bars are wooden, while the glockenspiel’s are metal, thus making it a metallophone

George S. May Scholarship Recipient Updates

Aron Joshua Aytona, son of District 81 Special Representative Florante Aytona recently graduated from Simon Fraser University (SFU) with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with joint honors in International Business and Economics.
                                                                                                                                                             Aron completed internships in China as a Business Development Coordinator for the Canadian Institute of Business & Technology and in India as a Business Analyst for Satyam Group of Cos. (an IT/BPO consulting company. Aron also worked as Teaching Assistant at SFU.

The Aytona family says “Thank you” to everyone responsible for awarding Aron the GSMIC scholarship.
 
                                                                             

Kacey Lutz, daughter of Edward (Field Service Special Representative in District 91) and Linda Lutz attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, majoring in Journalism.  During her sophomore year Kacey transferred to the Ohio Center for Broadcasting in Denver, Colorado.  In May 2008 she received her degree in broadcasting from OCB. 

          Kacey is currently working two jobs while also applying for broadcasting positions locally.  Kacey plans to enroll in either the Colorado Film Institute or Metropolitan State College in Denver to take additional broadcasting/editing classes.  Her long-term goal is to be a Film Editor. 

          Her high school volleyball coach was recently quoted as saying “regardless of whether Kacey is in front of the camera or behind the scenes, I know she will always give her competitive best to be the best.”  Kacey’s parents, Ed and Linda Lutz are extremely proud of their daughter’s achievements.  Congratulations to the Lutz family!

Cami Muller, Lee Muller’s daughter and another George S May scholarship recipient.

Congratulations Cami!! 

In September, Christopher Robert Best (son of Kirk Best, Special Representative, District 84) was sworn in as one of Oregon’s newest attorneys by the Chief Justice of the Oregon.  The ceremony was held at Wilmette University, home of the most senior law school west of the Missouri.  Chris graduated in May from the University of Oregon College of Law in Eugene, OR.

In the ABA-ethics portion of his bar exam Christopher scored one of the highest scores ever in Oregon.  In 2005 he graduated Cum Laude from Oregon State University in Corvallis. 

The Best family says, “None of this would likely have happened without his having been granted a George S. May four-year college scholarship, which was sufficient to cover all tuition and university fees.  Thank you to all of you for the great work you do to enable this company of ours to be able to continue granting these tremendous boosters of successes.”

Hope Clinic and Lucky Dawg Billiards

By Aneisha Rush, Executive Analyst

This client, located in Athens, GA was an interesting job all the way around. Jeni (Jenifer Hope Gustafson) is a Veterinarian. She’s a real go-getter and is not intimidated to take on new things. In addition to being a vet, she is also the owner of the bar and grill next to her clinic and a member of the National Guard, going active duty in 2009 to Afghanistan. It was very important for Jeni to leave her businesses and family members in good financial shape before being deployed. She knew that systems and controls needed to be established instead of leaving things the way they were.

Jeni was in the habit of taking her paycheck from HOPE clinic to pay her brother who was working next door at Lucky Dawg; the restaurant was definitely not producing a profit. That is just one of the problems Jeni was dealing with.

With a deep breath and a nervous smile, Jeni signed the Working Agreement. She was ready for Management Services to come in and start making profit and efficiency a reality for her and her family, and also for her loyal employees.

The following email is a note from Jeni.

When she writes about being like me, that refers to the following phrases I wrote down for her: “YOU GET WHAT YOU TOLERATE” and “WHEN DID YOU REALLY MEAN NO?” Jeni has these two statements posted in both of her businesses and on post-it notes in her vehicle. She is truly embracing the ownership of things and ready to start 2009 in a more controlled business frame of mind.

I may have diagnosed the problem, but definitely the Management Service team did the real save. Jeni wanted her businesses to become profitable, and to have controls, procedures, and systems developed. Good job, George S. May team! Many thanks for helping this business owner and her family!

Project Director William Thiry, Staff Executive Gary Ezell, and Staff Executive Steven Nelson opened the job on November 13, 2008; it closed on November 24, 2008. They installed a Profit and Expense Control project that included: Managing and Supervising Productivity (MSP) Training Program, Accounts Receivable Collection process, Flash/Management Reports, Cost and Pricing Procedures, Key Performance Indicators, a Budget and other related Standard Procedures and Cost Savings Recommendations totaling $164,857!

When one considers some of the bad news in the headlines, things look discouraging: the economy, the war in Iraq, gas prices, pollution, global warming, the credit crisis, and the stock market crash, just to name a few. George S. May said: “I don’t believe too much in looking back. If you’ve done well, you’re too inclined to become smug. If you’ve done poorly, you’re inclined to become discouraged. Keep looking ahead - yesterday’s done with - think about today and tomorrow.”

In spite of the current state of economic and financial affairs, the United States of America has proven to be a resilient nation of innovators. When the going gets tough, Americans get tougher and better. Even when things look bad, Americans have continued to do exactly what Mr. May said; we have looked forward.

Time Magazine recently published an article about 10 things that have never happened before:

1. A Former First Couple Switches Roles - Past President Bill Clinton tried to be a supportive spouse and a former First Lady Hillary Clinton emerged as a political powerhouse.

2. Superdelegates Finally Have a Say - After Ronald Reagan’s landslide victory over Jimmy Carter in 1980, Democratic Party insiders created the monsters known as superdelegates. The superdelegates sealed Senator

Hillary Clinton’s fate in the 2008 presidential election.

3. Wrong Track Sky-High - From the moment Obama entered the race, he presented himself as the candidate of fundamental change - with a biography, campaign strategy and set of priorities to match.

4. Outsiders In - 2008 is the first year since 1928 in which neither an incumbent President nor Vice President ran for the top slot. The die was effectively cast before the general-election process began.

5. Selling History - Barack Obama’s supporters craved a piece of the Obama brand, and for that, the campaign made them pay in all sorts of ingenious ways. Want an Obama blue t-shirt with the “O” logo? All yours in return for just three things: your money, your contact information and, ultimately, your vote.

6. An African American but Not Just an African American - The past four decades have been truly revolutionary in American politics, with a significant increase in the number of minority elected officials, greater voter participation by nonwhites and symbolic runs for President by Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson and Alan Keyes. Obama owes those trailblazers a debt, but his ascendance was the product of something very different from those previous WhiteHouse bids: not only was race not Obama’s signature dimension by any measure, but - with the exception of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy - it was barely an issue at all.

7. Best Reality Show Ever - Politics is show business for ugly people, the old joke goes, but the 2008 campaign was just plain show business, with a cast of fascinating if not always camera-ready players.

8. Internet Fund-Raising Comes of Age - Obama’s foremost advantages, and what allowed him to break all records, were Web savviness and volume.

9. Mooseburgers, Snow Machines and Serious Politics - In a stunning, star-making two-month burst of attention, Sarah Palin took her home state of Alaska into every American living room.

10. An October Surprise (in September) - Never has one eleventh-hour external event so transformed the trajectory of a presidential campaign. On a single day Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy,

Bank of America salvaged a troubled Merrill Lynch, the Dow dropped 500 points, while McCain famously declared that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.”

It was the start of a big, bad political catastrophe for McCain and Republican candidates all over the country.

We have come a long way as a nation by electing the first African American president. We have demonstrated to the world that we have healed from the wounds of a very painful and embarrassing chapter in our history by electing a president based on his qualifications…the only thing that really matters. What does this have to do with us at GSMIC?

We at the George S. May International Company have adopted a policy and practice of continuous improvement, which has served us well. We learn from the past, listen to our clients and employees,enjoy the compliments and correct our mistakes, but always look forward.

This is a never-ending effort and must include everybody. We have to maintain our quality standards, our policies and procedures and at the same time search for revisions and improvements of the current method of operation. I encourage every one of you to come up with ideas that can improve your job, your performance, your work conditions and any company process or procedure. I encourage everyone to take initiative and share your ideas with co-workers, so that everyone may benefit. Anything we can do to individually promote personal growth will benefit us all.

There is an atmosphere of hope in the air; we hear about it on TV and radio and read about it in the media. We believe that events in our lives will bring a positive outcome, things will turn out for the best and we will get what we want. However, let’s not confuse hope with optimism.

Hope is an emotion but optimism is the result of rational thinking. Achieving a positive outcome and creating the basis for optimism is always in the planning. Planning is a chain of actions aimed toward a very specific outcome. Planning to succeed, as opposed to simply hoping for success, is the key to optimism. Optimism can always be actualized when specific goals are set and actions taken in the direction of the intended outcome. Continuous movement and continuous improvement allow us to continue as the innovators we are.

This is our goal as a firm, this is our mission: to teach anyone who comes into contact with us, whether employees, clients, vendors, etc. how to plan for and realize success.

It is my desire that every employee at every level of the George S. May International Company embrace and create a corporate environment whereby this time next year, we will have our own set of 10 firsts. I invite you to join me in creating an innovative, progressive, and successful 2009.

The George S. May International Company 2009 Annual Executive Meeting was held on Saturday, January 3 and Sunday, January 4, 2009 at the corporate headquarters in Park Ridge.

The two-day agenda began with opening comments and an introduction by GSMIC President Israel Kushnir to frame the workplan and objectives for the meeting. Managing Director Paul J. Rauseo then gave an overview of the firm’s forecast goals and projected metrics targets for 2009. Each Divisional Manager and Chief Executive presented their area’s comprehensive metrics forecast review of 2008, which was followed with a charge by Messrs. Kushnir and Rauseo to innovatively embrace continuously quality improvement in every area of the company in 2009. Each executive was also exhorted to be diligent concerning follow-through and follow-up communications with employees in the field.

After the usual corporate business had concluded, GSMIC corporate executives participated in an exciting yet intense integrated performance workshop designed to drive improvement efforts at the individual, group, and organizational levels. A facilitator from Human Synergistics International, Dee McGee introduced a series of self-assessments to all members of the executive team. Human Synergistics International has developed various research-based assessments that can be administered to individuals, teams, and organizational working groups. Human Synergistics has an office in Chicago.

Assessments GSMIC executives completed included a Life Styles Inventory — a self-description of individual thinking and behavioral styles; a Group Problem-Solving and Decision-Making assessment; and a small group Survival Simulation exercise.

The Life Styles individual self-assessment gauged each person’s constructive (as opposed to defensive) interaction style. Through use of the very thorough assessment and its subsequent scoring method, executives rated themselves in three main areas: Constructive, Passive/Defensive, and Aggressive/Defensive Styles. Subcategories of those three areas are Achievement-oriented, Self-Actualizing, Humanistic-Encouraging, Affiliative, Approval-oriented, Conventional, Dependent, Avoidance, Oppositional, Power-oriented, Competitive, and Perfectionstic. The scoring process uncovered each person’s behavioral tendencies in every major and minor category.

The Reef Survival Simulation exercise required that Executives work together in cross-functional work groups and rank the relative importance of a number of salvaged items and reach consensus.

Participants were encouraged to reflect on their Life Styles self-assessment and its expression during the group exercise. In the corporate debriefing of the activity, interesting discoveries were made about group dynamics compared to each person’s behavioral traits. As you may imagine, simulation groups expressed a representation of the same characteristics as individuals within the group. Considerable discussion ensued about the ramifications of people’s individual behavior and it’s impact on the group’s survival, whether positive or negative impact.

The final session on Sunday included a discussion on the integration of the findings and discoveries, as well as their application during the workday. All members of the executive team gave glowing evaluations of the annual meeting, which because of the Human Synergistics workshop had been a complete diversion from the past formats. As a result of the workshop, we expect continued organizational effectiveness and performance throughout 2009 and into future decades of GSMIC.

Agenda

George S May’s Christmas Party 2008

To view a full size image click on any of the pictures.