In an effort to reduce gun violence, we teach all things music and entertainment industry and digital media creation while skillfully weaving in life skills to Washington DC area artists, high school students,vulnerable youth and returning citizens.
Creative Solutions 4 Youth Inc & The Center for Non Profit Advancement was renewed to provide Safe Passage at 3 DCPS schools and implement a innovation Conflict Mediation Program featuring the Alliance of Concerned Men
ACADEMY DC MAKIN MOVES TRAVEL PROGRAM
Creative Solutions 4 Youth, Academy DC has won a grant from Learn 24, Out of School Time, also known as the OST. Academy DC “Makin Moves” program will teach various aspects of travel to the underprivileged youth in our area. The program will also teach young people how to plan and book trips, learn airport protocols, such as how to go through TSA, flight safety. We will also aid youth in getting a passport and proper identification for travel.
Academy DC “Makin Moves” program students will experience three planned and chaperoned trips. The first trip will be a local bus trip to Sky Zone Bowie during the week of December 26th. The second will be a day trip by bus to New York the week of February 20-24. The final trip will be to Atlanta the week April 17-23 2023. The youth will visit media outlets, historical sites, and HBCU’s.
PER THE OST, THE FOLLOWING YOUTH ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THIS PROGRAM
“At-risk” youth ages 15-24 who are currently high school students that are one year older, or more, than the expected age for the grade, are homeless, and/or qualify for TANF or SNAP from Wards 5, 7, and 8.
If your child meets the above eligibility and you would like be considered for participation, please email us as soon as possible. Include the name(s) of your children, age and a contact phone number to Creativesolutions4youth@gmail.com
Print the two following forms below and send to the email above.
DO BETTA DC: 5 PART DOCU-SERIES ON THE GUN VIOLENCE EFFORTS OF WASHINGTON DC
PRODUCED BY THE ACADEMY DC
ANTI CARJACKING AD CAMPAIGN
Our “Think About It” Ad campaign was originally funded by the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office. The recent spike in the car jacking’s in Washington DC created an opportunity to develop several more ads for the district. The goal here is to encourage youth to think first and that this type of activity is not cool!
THE ACADEMY DC’S DASHAWN WALKER “MAN TIME” WINS FILM FEST AWARD!
Special Congratulations to our very own Dashawn Walker who recently won a GREENWOOD FILM FEST AWARD for Outstanding Performance for this role in a film The Academy DC developed to tell the story of the struggles a returning citizens faces upon re-entry into society.
This short 9 minute film titled “Man Time” was created by the Academy DC for the Office Of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement where we trained the the program’s ambassadors how to act, shoot and develop a film. This film was directed by Joseph Austin iii
This was Dashawn’s acting debut. See the film here.
PODCASTS DEVELOPED BY OUR MENTEES @ OFFICE OF NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY & ENGAGEMENT
Listen on Apple Podcasts Click here
Listen on Apple Podcasts Click here
ACADEMY DC’ WORKS WITH RETURNING CITIZENS FOR COURT SERVICES & OFFENDERS SUPERVISION AGENCY
We are proud to announce the expansion of our services. Our work started with returning citizens at CSOSA DC in 2017 then at risk youth in 2019 at DYRS for Mayor Bowser and DC City government.
What we learned is that not all of the youth we serve are interested in music. Many were interested in related fields.
Yes, we will continue to specialize in teaching songwriting, sound recording, music video production and of course the all important life skills.
Here’s what else we now have to offer!
PODCAST TRAINING
With over 30 years of radio and digital media experience under my belt, we thought it would be great to explore the idea of producing a podcast with our youth at DYRS. The goal is to train them to host and produce/edit their podcasts in Adobe Audition. #JobTraining Check out our first podcast below! #Funny
Congrats Ice Karim the Winner of our I GOT NEXT CHALLENGE! He won a $500 DTLR Gift Card, Free Video Shoot & Studio time courtesy of Haven House Studios. Plus the video for “Amazing” debuted in all DTLR stores nationwide and also on WUSA 9.
WE TEACH IMPORTANT LIFE SKILLS
JOB READINESS TRAINING
One of the biggest obstacles our clients face is unemployment and having a challenged past can make this even more difficult. To address this we brought in Carmen Drummond to assist us in getting our clients job ready. We are also working with a few local businesses who have agreed to offer second chances to returning citizens.
DEZ GETS TWO JOBS!
Meet Dez one of our day one students from the CSOSA DC program. His passions are now gourmet cooking, fishing and he’s also appeared in a few local movies. Check out story of how he bought into our process and got 2 jobs in one week!
VIOLENCE REDUCTION
The Washington DC area is currently experiencing an increase gun violence. At the Academy we frequently bring in compelling speakers to share their stories with our at risk youth and returning citizens. We recent sat down with The NO SLIDE ZONE to talk about their efforts to curb violence in the African American community.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF LOLA DIOR
The story of how one of our students turned her life around
MEETING THEM WHERE THEY ARE
WE TEACH OUR CLIENTS HOW TO PRODUCE SONGS, MUSIC VIDEOS, CD ART, SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES, STAGE PERFORMANCE,BREATH CONTROL, HOW TO INTERVIEW ON RADIO OR TV AND MORE
MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION
Each 16 week session our clients team up to create and conceptualize a music video from scratch. We first record the actual song then create the video. This is also a opportunity to expose them to cameras and the equipment used to create. Some have expressed interest in learning how to produce and we are exploring the idea of doing a few sessions on how to actually shoot and edit the videos themselves. VIDEO: Click here to see the videos they conceptualized.
LIVE PERFORMANCE TRAINING
Most of our clients are raw talents and most have never performed on stage or with a live band. We recently created a a jam session where our clients performed their verses with a live band. It was pretty amazing! VIDEO: Click here to see how it turned out.
YOGA & CHILL
Each 16 week session we bring in our certified Yogi Akil Taffe to teach stretching and breathing techniques. Akil is also The Regional Marketing Director for RCA records. He also teaches our clients the in and outs of the record business as well. Emotional intelligence and Self Awareness are hallmarks of what we teach our returning citizens.
OMEGA STUDIOS FIELD TRIP AND JULY 2019 RECAP OF OUR PROGRAM
