Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra

The mission of the Wake Forest Community Orchestra WFCYO's mission is to provide expert orchestral instruction and instrumental access to Pre-K through 12th grade youth, especially in underserved and rural communities. The Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra has three measurable program goals that align with the organization's mission statement. Goal 1: To provide 100% of our participants with an affordable, diverse, and comprehensive instrumental music education within the community. Goal 2: To positively impact 100% of our participants, their families and the communities in which we serve. Goal 3: To ensure that at least 80% of participants demonstrate mastery of the NC Essential Standards for Music Education including music literacy, musical response, and contextual relevancy according to their grade.

The programs are the vehicle through which the mission of the organization is achieved. We will know if the program is successful if we have met all three of our program goals by the year. For goal one, we maintain a strict eligibility criteria for our teaching staff and guest teaching artist. All teaching artists must have either a teaching license, master's degree in music education or performance, or a combination of experience and education to ensure that they are experts within the field. We carefully select a diverse array of repertoire that will challenge students as well as increase their musicianship. For goal two, we not only try to reach our participants, but we are committed to being a good neighbor in the community. We volunteer at the local senior living centers as well as provide food and school supplies each summer to Pre-K through 12th grade students each summer. For goal three, we measure success by the NC Essential Standards for Music Education. The NC Essential Standards provide a guideline as to what skills students should know and be able to do within a developmentally appropriate range. By using the NC Essential Standards as our tool of measurement for goal three, we are able to provide a program with clear goals and objectives to ensure that students meet NC State requirements for their grade level by the end of each session. By ensuring that students meet their expected growth, we are able to reinforce our overall mission and program goals.

The Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra is a 501 (c)3 not for profit organization that has a proven model of success in providing Pre-K through 12th grade arts education programs. All instructors have advanced degrees in Music Education, as well as over 16 years of teaching experience. Our Board of Directors are not only leaders within the organization, but leaders within their corporate organizations as well. The Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra has proven that we are capable of providing expert string instruction to Pre-K through 12th grade youth in rural and underserved communities.

The Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra started with three students in the summer of 2014. By the end of the first season, we were able to provide instruments and instruction to over 36 students in the Wake Forest community. Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra students have performed for the North Carolina Symphony Ovations program, The Town of Wake Forest Meet in the Street Festival, The Wake Forest Renaissance Center, Carowinds (NC), Bush Gardens (VA), and Kings Dominion (VA). The group is currently planning a trip to perform in Hawaii in 2021. Currently, Wake Forest Community Youth Orchestra serves 300 students across three counties including, Wake, Durham, and Vance County. No student is turned away for lack of an instrument or inability to pay. We have provided tuition assistance and free instruments for over 100 families in need. We provide every high school senior enrolled within our program with a college scholarship. We have a 100% high school graduation rate, with all of our music students attending college.