RAPP Program
Richmond Academy for Positive Productions
The Pinkney Foundation in partnership with the City of Richmond ECIA Grant and K-Lou Recording Studios offers the Richmond Academy of Positive Productions (RAPP) program. The primary goal of RAPP is to instill positive
non-violent thoughts, development of positive self-expression as well as positive
verbal and written communication skills for young adults ages 14-21.
Our goal is to serve up to 25 youth annually.
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RAPP Program Completed November 30, 2019:
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Congratulations to our first cohort of RAPP Program Participants!
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July 1-September 21, 2019
We had 8 participants graduate from our 12-week RAPP Program on Saturday, September 21, 2019.
2 of our young men over the age of 18 have been offered paid internships and 4 of our middle school and high school-aged youth have been offered full scholarships at the East Bay Center of the Performing Arts in Richmond, CA, to further develop their musical talents.
Thank you, Jordan Simmons, for your generosity in support of our youth. Only one of our students had previous experience writing and performing songs. For all of our other students, this was their first time writing and performing songs. In the beginning, they were timid and shy, but they learned to work as professionals. They were responsible for producing the music, writing songs with positive messages, recording all of the vocals and mixing the songs for playback.
I am very proud of their achievements. They recorded five songs and are prepared to perform 3 of them on November 30, 2019 at the East Bay Center of the Performing Arts.
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This program is not just about teaching studio recording and music production. We focus on social and emotional learning strategies through an evaluation tool developed by Algorhythm which measures our participant's success in 6 capacities:
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ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY - A young person's motivation and perceived mastery over school performance and their general sense of belief in their potential to attain academic success.
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CONTRIBUTION - Positive engagement with family, community, and society that are key to developing a young person's positive purpose as well as positive societal movement
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POSITIVE IDENTITY - A young person's internal sense of who they are and their multiple identities, involving building self-esteem, exploration and commitment of self-definition, fostering role formation, and achievement
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SELF-MANAGEMENT - The ability of a young person to regulate their emotions and behavior, take positive risks and persist through life’s challenges
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SOCIAL SKILLS - The ability of a young person to take others’ perspectives into account, develop a sense of caring, and empathy
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SOCIAL CAPITAL - The positive bonds young people have with other people and institutions such as schools, community centers, and youth-serving organizations
Throughout the framework of our program structure we provide the following experiences for our participants:
GOAL MANAGEMENT
Plan activities to give young people the chance to practice setting goals, breaking them down into smaller tasks, develop plans of action, and adjust them as necessary.
PEER-TO-PEER ENGAGEMENT
Encourage young people to work with and learn about others with different backgrounds and perspectives. Promote teamwork, group cohesion, and problem-solving.
INTEREST EXPLORATION
Provide opportunities for young people to explore potential interests, try new things, broaden their horizons, and take risks in a safe space.
PRIORITIZING YOUNG PEOPLE
Build meaningful relationships by prioritizing young people: set high expectations for them and invite them to share their unique experiences and passions with the program.
By incorporating these strategies we can assess their development. Click the link below to see our full report. https://ins.gt/ABYvDJ
Our development report received a100% satisfaction rate from all participants that were surveyed. All participants grew in 3 or more capacities. An overall rating of 70 means your program is successful based on the national scale. Our data shows this is a successful program and we need additional support to extend the opportunity to additional youth.
