Submitted by POGO
OLYMPIA – Play On Greater Olympia (POGO) will make its debut performance for the Thurston County Commissioners this Tuesday, March 19, 2pm, in building 1, room 280, of the county courthouse. POGO is the first after school, social-transformation-through-music program here in Thurston County. Its students are those who would not otherwise have access to this kind of intensive music instruction.
POGO is fashioned after the Venezuelan “el Sistema” model, which has brought music to over 350,000 children and youth in the South American country. Developed by Jose Abreu 37 years ago, el Sistema started with 11 kids in a garage and has blossomed into the country’s leading social change movement for kids.
El Sistema-inspired programs have been created in several US and global locations in recent years. Greg Allison, founder and Executive Director of POGO, thought it was time to bring the ground-breaking program to Thurston County’s kids.
“Music has been proven to dramatically change the life path of hundreds of thousands of a nation’s youth and transform the community around them. It changes the way they value themselves and others, grows confidence, improves executive brain functions, and gives a sense of belonging to something larger than themselves. All kids deserve a chance to enjoy all that music can bring them,” says Allison.
POGO started at Washington Middle School, where Allison has taught band for over 30 years. Currently, 15 students are receiving two hours of musical instruction each day after school. Allison hopes to expand the program to other area schools in the near future.
To learn more about POGO, visit www.facebook.com/playongreaterolympia.
