The Muse Project - May 2007 News

Dear Friends of The Lynda Roth Project

It has been since our fall newsletter that we have communicated with you. I am thrilled to write today to tell you about the growth and progress we've made during the past six months.

First, we have changed our name to The Muse Project to properly reflect the goals and objectives of the project. Our board members felt that including my name as a part of the organization was a source of our not receiving our 501c3 status last year. We also felt that a depersonalized name would give the project greater breadth. We amended our name with the State of California in February 2007 and reapplied for our non-profit status with the IRS. With the clarification of our name and purpose, we are hoping for confirmation of that status within a year.

Now, here's the exciting news. We have been invited to align The Muse Project with The Penn Literacy Network. (PLN). Associated with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, PLN offers courses in literacy and curriculum development to educators throughout the country. Our work will be included in their course PLN5, Informational Reading and Writing. Dr. Bonnie Botel-Sheppard, Executive Director of PLN, and dear friend of mine is enthusiastic about incorporating music across the curriculum. Putting original texts to music (i.e., Chief Seattle, The Declaration of Independence, etc.) is a completely new concept in curriculum development.

PLN will serve as our "think tank," help us develop curricula, and market our work through their contacts with educators already involved with their program. We will be a part of their web site, (gse.upenn.edu/pln/) and we will have a link from their site to ours. This will give The Muse Project great visibility in the education marketplace.

On April 8, I met in Philadelphia with PLN staff members and educators from two Pennsylvania school districts, Cheltenham and Penn Manor. All of these educators are currently involved with PLN's literacy techniques. They are intrigued by our work and have expressed interest in test piloting our project starting September. In addition, staff members from PLN will be coming to Southern California in mid August to participate in a strategy meeting with our board members and local educators.

Locally, the news is also encouraging. Sage Hill School in Newport Coast is also interested in test piloting our material this fall. I will be meeting with the chair of the history department and history teachers this week to help them select materials.

For me, most thrilling of all is the upcoming performance of choral students from Sage Hill School and Laguna Beach High School at our next salon on June 10. They will be singing the music I've composed for The Declaration of Independence. The event will be held at Romeo Cucina, a local restaurant here in Laguna Beach. More information on the salon will be coming your way in the next several weeks. We hope to see you there.

We are also very pleased to announce that Toni Iseman, Mayor of Laguna Beach, will be joining our board of directors. With her background in educationand her experience and savvy in community relations, she will be a valuable addition to The Muse Project.

As you can see, much has evolved since our fall newsletter. With the support of PLN, we are confident that within the next few years, The Muse Project will become a national program.

On the creative side, I have composed over one hour of choral and orchestral music, completing the Origins Module and the Manifest Destiny Module. We now have a product to test pilot and market to school districts.

Personally, I want to thank all of you for your support over the past year. Your faith in my vision has enabled me to develop the project to this point.

As ever,
Lynda