YouthScape - Stories

Rocking Out in HRM: A Youth Grant Success Story

Prepared by: Lorena Pilgrim, Developmental Evaluator

Those who know thirteen-year-old Tyson Boyd describe him as a true artist. He has a passion, knowledge, and love of music that is infectious. So when he had an idea to create a weekly program for youth to drop in and jam together, the Sackville Boys and Girls Club wanted to support him to make it happen. This dream team had only one thing that was missing…start up money. So Tyson applied to YouthScape’s Youth
Grants Program for funding and was approved. Everything was falling into place to make his idea a reality.

But as things got underway, it became clear that there was a lot more to making this happen. It involved things like organizing, planning, budgeting, and marketing.
There was never any doubt about Tyson’s musical talent but some teased him about his lack of organizational skills and were unsure about whether he would be able to pull this off.

Tyson believed in his idea and didn’t let this stop him. He knows how hard it is to get involved with music because it costs a lot of money for the instruments and lessons.
For many young people this would prevent them from ever having the opportunity to explore and experience music. Something he cares so deeply about! So Tyson and his support team, which included his parents - Thelma and Tim, his adult ally - Julian, and Trevor from the Sackville Boys and Girls Club, worked hard to get past these barriers. They helped him stretch his grant money so he would be able to purchase as many instruments as possible and used their networks to find people who were willing to volunteer to give the youth lessons.

Rock Club officially kicked off with its premiere jam session on September 11, 2008.
More than 40 youth of varying skill levels had the opportunity to play different instruments, be taught by peers or adult volunteers, and hang out and have fun in a safe space.

This process helped Tyson improve his organizational skills, build a stronger relationship with his parents, and show others that even at 13 he has what it takes to make his ideas a reality. The impact of his project did not end there. His support team was able to embrace a new approach to working with youth and learned that it is important to step back and let youth take the lead. He also helped the Sackville Boys and Girls Club to have a long awaited and much desired music program.

Finally, Tyson has served as an inspiration to the Sackville community and his peers.
It is not clear what the long-term impacts of this project are going to be but you can
bet that that they will be great. Way to go Tyson…you ROCK!!!!