“I knew our kids were going to love this. But I had no idea how much impact Creative Futures would have on our facility.
Our incident reports are a fraction of where they were before we started."
Mr. Ryan Stevens - Superintendent, James River Juvenile Detention Center
“Light The Music has supercharged engagement in our Music Tech program, and last year we doubled the number of our kids enrolling in Band and Chorus!"
Eric Musselwhite - Music Teacher, York County School District
“The Light The Music materials are great! But their coaching and support are the greatest value for me in our program."
Annamarie Bollino - former President, VMEA; Supervisor of the Arts, Prince William County Schools
Music Tech in York County School District
The Music Technology course at Grafton Middle School equips students with essential creative and technical skills. Through hands-on projects, students learn to compose, produce, and edit music using industry-standard software, fostering both artistic and technical proficiency. This innovative program has nurtured students' talents and prepared them for 21st Century careers by enhancing their digital literacy and problem-solving abilities.
In this video, hear from students as they present to the York County School District School Board about their experience with the LTM curriculum.
Creative Futures at James River Juvenile Detention Center
These videos and audio all feature original music created by students at James River Juvenile Detention Center.
JR Slides & Music.mp4Light the Music's Creative Futures program piloted in 2025 at JR JDC, in partnership with the Cultural Arts Center in Glen Allen.
Spoken word tracks were recorded by a staff mentor. Students composed music to these vocal "stems" to create their own original remixes.
The launch of this program featured a first ever facility-wide student Showcase, in which each student presented their music to the community.
At James River JDC:
Incident reports dropped by over 50%
94% student engagement
Facility-wide culture shift toward creativity, collaboration and positive peer interaction
Additional student works are posted below.
SOUND WISDOM
- Student, JRJDC
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
- Student, JRJDC
WHEN YOU FIND YOUR VOICE
- Student, JRJDC
Creative Futures REMIX PROJECT_Universal Language.mp4UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
- Student, JRJDC
This video provides additional context about the Remix project, and the JRJDC pilot program.
If you have a vision - or need guidance with refining one - we have the tools, resources, and expertise to make your programming impactful, and to hit your target learning outcomes and strategic goals.
Program Alignment
Light the Music facilitators work with your team to adapt curriculum and programming for your needs, and we integrate into your preferred programming/scheduling parameters.
Hardware
We can help you procure hardware (devices, headphones, A/V tools), and configure your tech stack to meet the needs of your students, staff, and facility.
Training & PD
We provide a variety of enablement opportunities, including: On-site professional development; Asynchronous, self-paced training modules; Live virtual training sessions. Clients receive continuous support throughout the duration of the partnership, and have access to a library of customer education and technical support resources.
Check back soon for a new Case Study featuring our partnership with James River Juvenile Detention Center.
