001Music really is an art form and a language that transcends all cultural barriers, all socioeconomic barriers. You know, they say that a smile is the same in every language. And um so is a clap. The way that we respond and feel about music is always the same. My name is Derek Levixson Luna and I am the program director of the Blue Light music program. My name is Justin Dickerman and I am the supervisor of transitional vocational education for Gloucester County Special Services School District. The career center program is an employment first program. We use person centered approaches working with our students to increase independence and employability skills out in the community. And um a part of that is we're also using these person- centered practices to um get to know our students interest and think
002about what they can do in the community when they're not at work. As well, the blue light music program was created in order to have a space for anyone to experience the joy and inspiration of creating music to fulfill their dream of making music in a real life recording studio. Yeah. Yeah. So, over in our live room there, we just got finished with a jam and improvisation session. Um, so the way those usually work is we have an iPad and the students can choose their favorite songs and we play them over the nice loudspeakers and there are lots of instruments that the students are able to uh explore and experiment with. [Music] This is our control room here and we had a bunch of singers. So today we had Emma, Julia, and Erica. And they
003love to sing vocal covers of their favorite songs. Each student will take a turn, and then they'll uh get sent into the vocal booth once it's recorded to sing their song. Um once everybody gets through the order, records all their songs, I will mix it for them, and we'll add things like reverb, delay, a little bit of compression, things that get their vocals radio ready, and we'll send it over to their teachers for them to enjoy at home and in school. So far, um, the students that have gone seem to really enjoy the experience and, um, you know, I helps their overall day because when they're out in the community staying engaged and having fun, um, it, you know, it boosts their morale and helps them also do good with out on their job sites
004and other tasks around the school. Why not involve people with disabilities? Music is something that transcends disability. It's something that anybody can do and we want to make sure that people with a disability, without a disability, all people get the same opportunities to make music. Um, we wanted to share that with everyone uh regardless of their abilities. We're trying to give all the students in our 18 plus program a chance to try this out. So we we're rotating through different groups in about five week period so they can get out there um see what they have to offer in the studio, try some things out and see if it's a good fit for them or not. The blue light music program's approach to sharing music is unique. We're not a traditional music school uh where
005you would pick an instrument, sit down with your instructor in a book, and you would just learn that instrument. But the blue light music program is studentledd and student driven. We let the students decide the course of activities and change instruments or activities with however they're feeling inspired. So we have students that are playing guitar, bass guitar, um students that are playing the drums. Um then we have some students that just like to sing along to their favorite songs. Um and then we have other students that are really interested in the technical side of things. So, they've been going with the groups and they'll hang out in um the production booth, so to speak, to see how the recording process works. All students who enroll in the Blue Light music program get these complimentary lanyards
006and those lanyards will connect to their digital portfolio where they can share the what they're doing, their work, their pictures, their videos, their songs, everything that they create in the Blue Light music program. My mommy lamb me. Uh students can return after they graduate by enrolling in our 18 to 20 yearear-old emerging artist program. Additionally, if they're eligible to receive funding through DDD, they can also use that budget to enroll in the music program. um they can work with their support coordinators in adult services um who could then um help them manage their personal budgets to you know through DDD to be able to go to blue light after graduation. We're always looking for new and exciting ways to share music with youth and adults of all abilities and can't wait to see what opportunities
007come to us this year. [Music]