Deberly Kauffman Creates a Free Lesson Program in Robbinsville, NJ

Deberly teaches a young violinist.

Young musicians can do amazing things! 17-year-old violist Deberly Kauffman, who was featured on From the Top’s radio taping in Wolfeboro, NH this past summer, created a free music lessons program in her hometown of Robbinsville, NJ. She has now been teaching and running this program with her father for five years!

Deberly’s program offers private lessons during the academic year as well as a summer camp. With the help of sponsors, they also provide instruments for students who need them. She also takes her students to see classical music concerts. Just last October, she took a group of students to the Sphinx Concert in New York City.

The idea for this program came about in a conversation with her family about “what would the world be like if we all understood and enjoyed music…[the] idea blossomed from there, almost overnight.”

From there, Deberly took action…

First I contacted the local mayor and superintendent of Beverly. I went to the school board and got the support of the local community. Then, I did an assembly at the elementary school several months before starting the program to get the kids interested and informed.

Deberly also employed the help of her grandmother, who acted as her contact with the school board.

She even has some advice for other young musicians who want to make a difference:

It’s really not as scary or hard as it seems to build from the ground up. First, pick a location. Then get the support of the local school board and any other politicians you can, as well as sponsors.

Hold an assembly to get people familiar with you and the program–make sure the community is informed! Finally, just make lessons fun…. Sometimes I feel [self-conscience] about teaching, but then people will tell me how much they love it.

With one idea and the help of her family members, Deberly was able to gain the support of her local community and really make a difference!