About Sparks for Success:
Sparks for Success has been providing school-based Music Therapy classes and private music instruction to children suffering traumas brought on by family incarceration and other forced separation from parents. Due to COVID-19 our Music Therapy sessions for the coming school year will be held virtually with one family at a time.
Many of our Sparks students live in impoverished environments—government subsidized housing and other low income neighborhoods. Some are cared for by adults who have not graduated high school and/or do not have good parenting skills. Many lack hope that their condition can ever improve.
For more information, please view our brochure and visit our website.
Student interns would have the opportunity to explore the following areas:
- Children, Media & the Arts: Research on music therapy for children with special needs – the negative social, emotional, economic, and health effects caused by parental incarceration and how we can intervene through music therapy.
- Children & the Family, regarding the familial structure and conditions that can affect a child’s upbringing and development: Incarceration of a parent or other close relative often is reflected on the children (stigma, guilt).
- Art and Social Change: The use of short videos, newsletters, and social media campaigns to draw attention to the plight of children affected by parental incarceration and how early interventions can benefit them.
- Youth and Family: Social and economic factors at play in youth development and family dynamics.
- Community Welfare and Social Justice: Many children of inmates not only follow in their parents’ footsteps, but they are expected to. Former and reformed inmates have stated that when they did the right thing their friends/community would make fun of them. However, once they committed crimes they received the support and approval of those around them. Intergenerational incarceration is not uncommon.
For summer 2021, we are seeking someone with experience in blog writing and storytelling!
To Apply:
If interested in working with Spark for Success, please contact Cynthia Smith, Executive Director, at cynthia@sparksforsuccess.org for more information about available internship positions.