Transforming the Lives of children through music!
El Sistema Oklahoma is a social action ministry of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, in partnership with the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University. Inspired by El Sistema in Venezuela, El Sistema Oklahoma is a model of how music education can both create great musicians and be used as a tool to transform the lives of children in Oklahoma City.
El Sistema Oklahoma provides free after-school instrumental music education and social support to children in grades 3-11 in Oklahoma City Public Schools. In 2018-2019, El Sistema Oklahoma will serve 220 children every day after school until 6 pm. The mission of El Sistema Oklahoma is to serve the community by engaging children within an ensemble-based music program so they can share the joy of music making and grow as responsible citizens.
El Sistema Oklahoma needs volunteers every day, Monday through Friday between 2:00pm-6:00pm. Volunteers set their own, flexible schedules. Come every day or only one day a week. Come for the entire time or only an hour. Every bit of time spent volunteering with us is valuable to our program. Volunteers do not need any music experience to serve as there are many tasks that are critical but do not require music knowledge. We do find that our most successful volunteers serve on a regular schedule, as this helps you learn our program and develop relationships with the children, faculty and other volunteers.
Volunteers perform a variety of tasks and often those tasks are dictated by the days of the week or specific time periods of the day, rather than assigning a specific task to you. Our most successful volunteers prioritize the needs of the day rather than a specific task. Our top request of volunteers is that you be flexible in your service to the children and to the program. We will try to match your skills, strengths and time with our program needs. Volunteers consent to a background check prior to serving on site with the children. This background check is processed free of charge to volunteers.
