Fine Art - Miami, Florida, United States
American Children's Orchestras for Peace, Inc. (ACOP) provides music instruction to underprivileged children in public schools, parks, and community centers to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness that often leads to juvenile violence.\This year-round program is designed to provide instruments and free lessons to under-served, disable & at-risk children in Miami-Dade County, using music to improve individual achievement, social skills, parental involvement, and ultimately – children's lives. \ACOP targets communities with acute needs and social problems. Our vision is to not only focus on the children's artistic development as it does to the idea of music as a tool for peace and social change.\ACOP's main goals are to: improve each child's musical aptitude knowledge; reduce negative behaviors, while improving social skills and peer-to-peer relationships; increase parental involvement in child activities; give children significantly positive and influential mentor-child relationships in their adult music instructors; keep children away from unhealthy patterns and those dangerous idle times in after school hours.\Our program serves as an outlet for children who are regularly left at home or among the violent streets of their communities while their parents are hard at work.\ACOP was created by a concept that music is one of the most powerful forms of communication can be utilized as a tool for peace and social change, and has grown organically with real children and parents in the most diverse and poorest communities of our city. \ACOP has been successfully awakening the youth's competitive spirit, stimulating the children to improve their own abilities and promoting opportunities to build cultural understanding and good will.