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VOA标准英语2010年-Musician Teaches Kids Anything is Poss

时间:2010-11-06 05:22:26

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When Rick Aggeler graduated from the famed Berklee College of Music in 2007, he had two career options: professional drummer or music teacher. He chose music teacher - with a mission.

Aggeler, 25, discovered early on in life that music is magic.

"Music made me feel like anything was possible," he says.

Aggeler was seven when he had brain surgery, which left him with an embarrassing scar on the back of his head. Worse, his medical condition prevented him from playing sports. So his mother suggested he learn to play the drums.

Inspiration

"I started playing drums with Ronit Glick. She was my elementary teacher," he recalls. "I remember just the joy it brought to me. It was my favorite thing. Sixth-grade was a new school to me and I had a tough time getting along with all the kids. Ms. Glick just took me in and I had so much fun at the program. I ate up anything she gave to me. It just felt great all the time."

Years later, the love of music took Aggeler from northern California - where he grew up - to Boston to study at the prestigious1 Berklee College of Music. While a junior at Berklee, he volunteered as a music teacher at a local youth center. In a way, he never left.

Aggeler helped create a small music club within the youth center. Later, serving as its director, he oversaw2 its rapid growth into a major program. The Music Clubhouse at the Blue Hill Boys and Girls Club in Dorchester, Massachusetts, now offers local kids a chance to learn how to play not just drums, but a wide range of other instruments as well.
Music Clubhouse

"Just watching the energy of the kids and working with them, they were so excited to learn and play, that's what caught my attention," he says. "It all tied back to what Ms. Glick did for me. So, as much fun as I do have drumming and performing live, it's definitely more rewarding and more fun, watching these kids grow up and develop."

The music clubhouse, Aggeler says, has become a haven3 for local kids who can come after school hours or during summer vacation. They learn to play instruments, perform together in bands and even record their own songs in the club's studio.

Super Hero is one of the songs from the club's second album, Because of You.

"It was cool, because I got a chance to be in a studio and see what it was like to record a song," says fourteen-year-old Javon Martin, who goes by the stage name Young Fresh. Fresh joined the music clubhouse three years ago.

 "It has impacted my life in a big way because I never thought I'd be doing this," he says."We now give shows. Everyone wants to interview us. I'm on the radio. I'm doing shows on different stages. People are actually starting to see me as an artist. People are always coming to me saying, 'Don't forget me, when you make it big.'"

Akheylah Hunter, 10, didn't play an instrument when she became a club member last year. Now, she plays piano and sings with the band. What she likes best, she says, is performing.

"We performed in different places like at Berklee College of Music," she says. "We go on trips, like we went to the House of Blues4 and we went on stage and performed, and it was very fun."

Helping5 the community

Since the Music Clubhouse opened three years ago, it's served almost 500 kids. Aggeler says performing in front of different audiences helps the young musicians build self esteem6. Coming to the club to prepare for those performances helps them learn how to deal with their personal problems and concerns.

"I can see what it does for them and it just develops confidence," he explains. "It's also an escape [from] the big problems we have in the neighborhood- obviously gangs, family dynamics7. We have a lot of challenges. So whether they feel embarrassed about a zit on their face, or they feel embarrassed because they're not as tall as somebody or whatever, something about what's happening at home, we can have those conversations and they can write, too. They can rap about it and kind of let it out a little bit."

To expand the club and help more kids learn music, Aggeler sought the support of the community. Creating partnerships8 with the Berklee College of Music and local music stores, he says, has helped the club receive free instruments, recording9 equipment, computers and software.

The Music Clubhouse at The Blue Hill Boys and Girls Club has also gotten support from the Music and Youth Initiative, a nonprofit that develops after school music education programs in underserved communities in Massachusetts.

"I do think it's important that we continue to get private corporate10 and foundation investments in programs like this, not just here but all across the country, so we don't leave behind the children who may really benefit from this kind of a program and may not benefit as much from purely11 academic programs," says Gary Eichhorn, executive director of the Music and Youth Initiative. "We need to level the play field somewhat by providing kids who may not have the means to get private music lessons the opportunity to still learn music and get all the benefits that music education brings."

Aggeler is happy - but not surprised - to see music touch and transform the lives of his club members. It's the same magical power he experienced as a child, that inspired him to become a teacher - and to pass it on.
 


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 prestigious nQ2xn     
adj.有威望的,有声望的,受尊敬的
参考例句:
  • The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
  • You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。
2 oversaw 1175bee226edb4f0a38466d02f3baa27     
v.监督,监视( oversee的过去式 )
参考例句:
  • He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统,安然引退。 来自互联网
  • Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网
3 haven 8dhzp     
n.安全的地方,避难所,庇护所
参考例句:
  • It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后,这真是一个安乐窝。
  • The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。
4 blues blues     
n.抑郁,沮丧;布鲁斯音乐
参考例句:
  • She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
  • He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。
5 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
6 esteem imhyZ     
n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作
参考例句:
  • I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
  • The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。
7 dynamics NuSzQq     
n.力学,动力学,动力,原动力;动态
参考例句:
  • In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利,你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
  • Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。
8 partnerships ce2e6aff420d72bbf56e8077be344bc9     
n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 );合伙人身份;合作关系
参考例句:
  • Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
  • It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句
9 recording UktzJj     
n.录音,记录
参考例句:
  • How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间?
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
10 corporate 7olzl     
adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的
参考例句:
  • This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
  • His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。
11 purely 8Sqxf     
adv.纯粹地,完全地
参考例句:
  • I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
  • This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

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