Nonprofit

For Learners of All Ages

For Learners of All Ages was incorporated 6 months ago. We received our 501c3 charitable status in February of this year. A baker's dozen in size, our staff includes credentialed teachers, one active and one former university professor, a former engineer who helped put man on the Moon, a former United States Marine, community college students, as well as university graduates and post-graduates. We are each linked by our commitment to cultivating the minds, bodies, and spirits of our community. We have gained support for our dance programming from the LAUSD and Polytechnic High, Sylmar High, and the Cesar Chavez Learning Academy. Los Angeles Mission College and the Boys and Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley also have welcomed our proposed project. While we have only listed our involvement with four public schools, our programming has been requested at several other schools. Being that we are a new organization, our programs are fresh, and we have no current funding we have decided to focus our energy on a handful of schools for the time being. We are far more interested on the quality of our work and the growth of our students. Initially, our dance programming focuses on Bachata, however, the Island Touch Dance Academy has provided us free use of their choreographies, including Crunkchata, which is an individual-based dance more appropriate for younger dancers. We have other dance companies, ranging from Mexican Folklorico, hip-hop, and even the flow-arts who would like to work with us. However, we first need to set our initial programming successfully in motion.

1 Submitted Idea

  • 2013 Grants Challenge

    Shall We Dance in LA?

    For Learners of All Ages believes in developing innovative solutions to the challenges facing our community by cultivating collaborative lifelong learning. It was difficult to ultimately select the most relevant indicator for our organization's proposed projects. Though intersecting with education, social connectedness, we believe that through cultivating and enriching arts and cultural vitality these other pieces fall into place. The arts in public schools continue to suffer from budget cuts. With increased focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in K-12 education, remaining funding is centered around related subjects. The arts, and in particular, dance, is being pushed aside as less relevant. For many students, it is the artistic, cultural, creative, and physical elements of the school day that keep them coming back and staying academically involved. At the same time, it is these same elements in our communities, city, state, and nation that draw people in and motivate them to invest themselves. For this reason, many students from the Northeast San Fernando Valley are bused to other parts of the Valley and City or to private schools where holistic education takes place. At the same time, this is the reason why Northeast Valley residents commute to Hollywood, Downtown, and Santa Monica to invest their recreation time. But change is in the air. To this end, our My LA 2050 idea is: 1) to implement an after school Bachata dance program in four high schools in the Northeast San Fernando Valley and at Los Angeles Mission College and 2) to create a dance festival based in the Northeast San Fernando Valley serving as a culminating event for our students, a major artistic/cultural community event, and a way of showcasing vital community resources, in this case the Boys and Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley.