It’s still a holiday break in Fort Worth, but students at the Eastside Boys & Girls Club were anxious to get to work writing on Thursday morning.
“Write the hook. We’re gonna start with the hook first,” Music and Youth Coordinator Josh Alfonso said. “So we’re gonna start in the studio.”
Alfonso runs the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County’s Music & Youth Clubhouse. It’s a place where middle school-aged students learn to write, perform, and produce their music in a state-of-the-art recording studio. The Eastside Boys & Girls Club in Fort Worth is one of 3 with the program in Tarrant County.
“This program really is a character development program with the music being the piece that draws them,” Alfonzo said. “My goal is not to make professional musicians or recording artists. If that happens that’s great, but really it’s to impact them on a much deeper level to get them to make good decisions, and the way I do that is through music.”
Students build confidence as they create.
“Up, A LOT,” 11-year-old Kenneth ‘KJ’ Anderson said describing his confidence since joining the Eastside Boys & Girls Club Music & Youth Clubhouse.
“I have gained more confidence,” 12-year-old Kayden Thomas said. “If I want to go on stage and start talking, I wouldn’t be scared because I’m rapping up there and I’m not scared.”
There is a stage where students can showcase the original songs they create, sometimes in front of an audience.
“It’s a little bit of you that you just get to record. These are your ideas, part of your story that you want to tell,” Alfonzo said of his students. “And my favorite part is when something that they created, you see some parents or even other people, like, dancing to one of their songs. It’s really cool!”
By laying down tracks, the students are laying down a foundation for success in life.
“Have confidence in your life,” Thomas said. “And be what you want to be.”
The Music and Youth Initiative is a funding partner for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County, helping with the startup funding and technical support. The City of Fort Worth is also a funding partner for the Eastside location. Tarrant County is a funding partner for the BGCGTC North Fort Worth location. The Ladies Auxiliary of Arlington is a funding partner for the Kromer location in Arlington.
