For the past seven years, the Community Music School has received a sponsorship from First Guaranty Bank.
“Due to First Guaranty Bank’s generosity in the form of this annual sponsorship, we are able to offer discounted tuition to students who are on free, or reduced lunch at their schools,” said Interim Director of the Community Music School Jivka Duke.
This annual donation has allowed the Community Music School to be affordable for families of various income levels.
“The sponsorship plays an important role in preserving the quality of our program, and it makes music lessons accessible and affordable to everyone,” said Duke.
Since most of her students are children, Duke believes it is important to teach life lessons as well as how to play musical instruments.
“We all know the old saying ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’” said Duke. “The majority of our students are school-aged children, and we could say that we teach young children to play musical instruments, but in reality, our role is even bigger than raising the next generation of young musicians. Our true goal is to help raise our students to be individuals of excellence because they are the future of our country. They are the legacy that our generation will leave behind.”
Duke is an experienced teacher who believes in each of her students. She believes that given enough time and effort, every student can become someone great.
“I have taught young people for almost 17 years now, and I have learned that when working with young children, sometimes we see results in 10 minutes and sometimes it takes 10 years,” said Duke. “I know, and I have seen this time after time, that if I continue to sow the seeds of character day after day, they will eventually grow and blossom into something magnificent.”
The Community Music School has three different locations in Louisiana and has instructions for multiple types of musical instruments as well as voice.
“The Community Music School, located on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University and its two satellite locations in Lacombe and in Walker, offers music instruction on various instruments and voice for children and adults of all ages,” said Duke. “In addition to private music lessons, the Community Music School offers a number of summer music programs such as the Middle School Band Camp and Guitar, Beginner String Orchestra and Chamber Music workshops taking place during the last two weeks of June.”
