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 RECAP

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