Youth is the top priority for the Arrowhead Arts Association Board.

Senior Scholarship Program - The AAA awards up to $10,000 in annual scholarships in the following manner:
Up to four graduating seniors who plan to further their music studies in college will each receive $2,000.
An additional $2,000 will be distributed to deserving high school students for training, travel or other musical studies.

Private Music Instruction Scholarships - The AAA annually awards up to $6,000 to twelve gifted and/or needy music students to offset the costs of their private music instruction. Students may be recommended by their music teacher at their respective schools, or by their private music instructor. These individual scholarships are designed to help parents offset up to half of the cost of private music lessons.

Arrowbear Music Camp Scholarships - We are fortunate to have the highly acclaimed Arrowbear Music Camp right here on our beautiful mountain. Directors Dennis and Carol Docksteder have graciously and consistently cooperated with AAA to match our scholarships to gifted musicians in grades 5 through 10. These music students participate in intensive courses of study throughout each summer season, and emerge with more richly defined talents.


Youth Enrichment Programs

It is now well-known that exposure to music at a young age:

Increases higher-order cognitive skills
Encourages receptiveness to learning
Increases cultural awareness and personal growth
Improves self-expression
Develops social and communication skills
Leads to a life-long appreciation of music and the arts

For these and many other reasons, the youth of our community continue to be a major focus for the Arrowhead Arts Association. Our various Youth Enrichment Programs seek to expose children to music in a variety of ways:

Free In School Performances - Each year, our Youth Enrichment Program presents musical performances to the elementary schools in our school district, which reaches over 3,000 children from kindergarten through sixth grades at no cost to the schools, the Rim of the World Unified School District (ROWUSD) or the PTAs.

Free Youth Symphony Concerts - In order for our youth to experience and observe the joy of music-making in a symphony orchestra, we present free concerts by some of the finest local youth symphonies. In the past few years, we have hosted the Buddy Rogers Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra in free afternoons of outstanding music by young people for young people at the Church of the Woods.

Free "Instrument Petting Zoos" - Once each year, a free "instrument petting zoo" affords young children the opportunity to touch and play various instruments. With assistance from the Rotary Club of Lake Arrowhead, these sessions allow children to experiment with various instruments and to develop their interest in music. This year, the "Instrument Petting Zoo" will take place just before the “Freedom Concert” at Santa's Village in Skyforest on July 6.

New-Young Students Rhythm Project - The AAA is sponsoring a special pilot music project for kindergarten and first grade students at Charles Hoffman Elementary School in Running Springs, in conjunction with ROWUSD. AAA Auxiliary volunteer, Chyrl Russell, M.A., will expose children to resonator bells, auto harps, musical puppets and other rhythm instruments to familiarize them with concepts of pitch, dynamics, tone quality, beat, and rhythm. Concurrently, Chyrl is training several teachers how to implement these musical techniques to enhance learning across the curriculum. We plan to expand this pilot project to the other four elementary schools within ROWUSD.

New-Strings Program -In an effort to eventually have full youth orchestras at our local schools, in 2002, AAA has implemented an after-school strings class for fifth and sixth grade students at each of four elementary schools. The first year of this program brought over 40 students of violin, viola, and cello. This pilot program, also in cooperation with ROWUSD, will lead to a comprehensive music program at all schools within a few short years.

New-Children's Musical Exhibit - Inaugurated in May, 2002, a new musical exhibit at the Lake Arrowhead Children's Museum features musical instruments from around the world for children to touch, play and experiment with. Other antique and international instruments will be permanently displayed along with their histories and some unique musical stories.