STEAM Jams: Sing. Learn. Repeat

K-12 STEAM education

Central LA East LA South LA San Gabriel Valley West LA San Fernando Valley Gateway Cities South Bay Long Beach LAUSD (select only if you have a district-wide partnership)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Elementary students across Los Angeles County are not meeting academic benchmarks. According to the latest NAEP and CAASPP results, only 25% of LAUSD fourth graders are reading at grade level, and just 20% of fifth graders are proficient in science—figures that have remained largely unchanged over the past three years. Teachers, especially in under-resourced schools, face mounting pressure to focus on test preparation with limited time or tools for creative, standards-aligned instruction. As federal funding shrinks for intervention and enrichment, both students and educators are left without the support needed to create learning experiences that are effective, engaging, and joyful. Without access to relevant, flexible, and inclusive resources, students fall behind and teachers burn out—widening gaps in opportunity and achievement.

Griffin Ed, in partnership with Two Bit Circus Foundation (2BCF), will produce a new series of educational music content designed to augment science and reading comprehension for elementary students across Los Angeles County. With grant support, we plan to build a professional-grade studio within our new Innovation Hub in South Los Angeles equipped with green screens, recording equipment, acoustic panels, and software editing tools to serve as a production space and professional learning site.
Over the grant period, we will host 6 free professional development workshops serving 240 Kindergarten through 2nd grade teachers. Each 2 hour workshop will train 35-45 educators in using our turnkey curriculum and content as a tool to boost phonics, language fluency, and science vocabulary. Teachers will learn how to guide students in transforming academic content into original songs that make core concepts stick through rhythm, repetition, and creativity. This new initiative builds upon 2BCF’s existing catalog of professional development offerings that have already impacted 18,210 teachers across LA County.

We envision a future where Los Angeles County schools embrace music as a foundational tool for teaching science and reading. By October 2026, our South LA studio will serve as a hub for content creation and training, equipping 240 teachers with curriculum-aligned tools that bring core concepts to life through song, movement, and storytelling. The music videos produced in the studio will offer flexible, multimodal resources that support teachers and engage students.
This project challenges the typical model of instruction by embedding culturally relevant, arts-integrated learning into pacing guides and classroom routines. By 2050, we aim to train 3,000 teachers and engage 5,000 students, establishing music-based learning as a proven strategy for meeting academic benchmarks, revitalizing classrooms, and closing opportunity gaps across Los Angeles.