Stealthmode Partners E-Zine: Music to our Ears
14 March 2003

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Namaste,

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There has never been a moment when I've asked the tech community to come forward
for a volunteer project and it hasn't answered. In the past few months, I've
been working with many not-for-profits who could increase their capacity through
the use of technology, but who can't afford to make the investment in the tools
they need. Here in Arizona, we're fortunate to have the Arizona Internet
Professionals Association (AZIPA) announcement list, a list of twelve thousand
technology professionals and the people who interact with them. I called on the
AZIPA list for volunteers for this particular project, and we ended up with a
national e-philanthropy campaign. More people volunteered than we could use, and
we are actually beginning a second campaign for a different not-for-profits.
This is how *real* communities work. How fortunate we are!


INNER CITY CHILDREN�S MUSIC PROGRAM STRIKES E-PHILANTHROPY CHORD

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An inner city music academy that provides free music lessons and instruments to
youth at risk has received a gift of its own: a national campaign to raise
enough money to keep the program going. Rosie's House: A Music Academy for
Children (www.rosieshouse.org), has been adopted by technology professionals
from Arizona to Australia, and they have provided the Academy a web site,
national publicity, and a state-of-the-art music school administration program
that tracks the connection between music practice and the discipline required to
succeed in school and in life.

At Rosie's House the mission is simple -- to teach music and encourage students
to put their best efforts into everything they do. Music teaches
self-discipline, develops and reinforces good self-esteem, and fosters creative
thinking. Moreover, research has shown that:
� arts education increases interest
in academic learning,
� the study of music produces the development of academic achievement skills,
� learning to play a musical instrument helps students to develop faster
physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially,
� and there is a correlation
between music education and higher test scores in math, reading, and even the
SAT.

Rosie's House was first adopted by Vertigo Interactive Design
(www.vertigointeractive.com) , one of the leading interactive design firms in
Phoenix, Arizona --home to the not-for-profit music group. In real life, Vertigo
Interactive Design, Inc. designs and produces customized, interactive
applications to communicate and market a full range of products and ideas,
including educational and promotional CD-Rom's, highly custom internet websites,
informational kiosks and museum, corporate, tradeshow and special event
exhibits. As its contribution, Vertigo produced a customized, interactive
website to communicate and market Rosie's House, and to allow it to receive
donations online. Sheri Farrell, co-founder of Vertigo, says "when we found out
how talented some of the children are, and how meaningful music can be to their
lives, we were happy to donate our services to help them raise money online."

Music school administration and donor management software was provided at a deep
discount by SSOM Software, a specialty company in Australia started by a music
administrator who was inundated with the paperwork associated with running his
own secondary school music program. "One of the more exhausting aspects of Music
administration is the organisation of the instrumental tuition program. Some of
the tasks Music Admin Pro does include scheduling the rotating timetable for the
term, organising external exams, keeping track of all the details for students
and teachers, student instrumental music progress reports, ensemble
participation, music purchases, the Music Library and the instrument repair
details." No one ever thinks about these aspects of running a program, so it was
wonderful for Rosie's House to be able to automate these routine and essential
tasks.

Rosie's House is the creation of Woody and Rosebell Schurz, German immigrants
and longtime Phoenix residents. Rosie, as she is lovingly called by the
children, studied violin as a young girl in Munich until World War II swept
across Europe, displacing her family to the countryside. Her music education
came to a sudden halt, never to be taken up again. Rosie, not wanting poverty to
dash the dreams of other children as it did her own, founded the Rosie's House
Foundation. The vision began with the purchase of a run down old house in an
inner city Phoenix neighborhood.
Rosie's House started as a safe house for the homeless and for children who
needed a refuge off the streets after school. It soon developed into the music
school it is today, with 350 students from the Phoenix Inner City who perform
both locally and nationally.

You guessed it: Stealthmode Partners is donating the national PR.