How @4410 Changed our Journalism Program

My son, Willem Drescher performing at Open Miic Night in October

@4410 changed my news magazine program, Inside 15000. Yes, I know, it’s a music space, and what does that have to do with a news magazine? The owner of Contemporary Music Center (CMC) and @4410, Menzie Pittman visited my class in October of 2015 to speak to my students about how their skills as journalists can take them to amazing places. After his talk, he walked around the classroom and talked to the kids, saw what they were working on, and asked us how we made our money to run the magazine. My then-business manager, Lauren Ainslie, explained that we held Open Mic Nights in our cafeteria once a month, but that it wasn’t all that great because we didn’t know what we were doing with the sound system and things sounded bad, and the work it took to set everything up and take it down barely made it worth the while. We just weren’t making out numbers.

The idea of Open Mic Nights at @4410 was born. Menzie offered to host our Open Mic Nights; we would benefit from their incredible sound system, stage with light, and seating for a crowd of over 100 kids. I have never felt more relieved, I would be able to offer a cozy Open Mic environment with all the benefits of a professional setting, without having to pay for it, or set it up and take it down.

The arrangement benefited @4410 and Inside 15000: we charged $7 per ticket for attending the otherwise free Open Mic Nights. Menzie got a fee ad, but more importantly, kids were attending @4410 and word was getting out this amazing space. Our first Open Mic Night gave us a 130 student turn-out. We raised enough money to pay for our next edition, in just two hours’ time! The arrangement continues to be a win-win situation for both CMC and the community.

The best part of the entire experience is watching students, parents and teachers performing, not only for each other, but with each other. My favorite experience in this regard was watching a student of mine perform; she was a shy student in class, she wore her hair so that I couldn’t see her eyes, she was soft spoken and vey nearly never voiced her opinions in our many class discussions. She hated my class so much that she tried to transfer out. I offered extra credit for students to perform at @4410. This quiet, shy girl got up on stage and, with her family and classmates watching, belted out a song with such a rich, deep and emotional voice that it brought tears to my eyes. When she finished I embraced her, and told her how her music moved me. That changed our entire year. She began speaking up in class, she formed a group of friends to work with, and she and I developed a much stronger teacher-student relationship. It is incredible to see how music can change the way we view those around us.

MaryBeth Starkey and John Crocker belt out some old country tunes.

Not only have students come out of their shells on stage, teachers have as well. We’ve seen a teacher and student duet, with Mary Beth Starkey and John Crocker performing a country music set. Students in the crowd cheered as this unusual duo performed together. We’ve hear Mr. Dittmer sing old fashioned Frank Sinatra ballads, we’ve had Ms. Thorpe, a new Spanish teacher at the school sing, after being part of the school for just one month.

Because @4410 has such a family-friendly environment, we see family performances as well. Teacher’s children have performed, we’ve watched the Young family with father and son performing, and the youngest Young belting out in a voice that amazed the crowd. We’ve had the Thistle family perform, not only with father and son but father and sons!

After each event, we leave not only with our hearts filled, but our coffers as well. @4410 has helped us publish our $610-a-month issue for the past year-and-a-half. @4410 has also benefited from our combined events, because the students who attend our BHS Open Mic Nights love it so much, they attend it every Friday when it is a community Open Mic Night (and free).

If you haven’t visited the Open Mic Nights yet, visit the next one! Visit their website for upcoming events.

Andrew Young Rocks out