WISH LIST $100: chess sets for youth group; $500: tutoring software for academic review sessions; $10,000: 10 steel pans (drums)

When Lorna Green began tutoring in her home, she saw that a traditional learning environment wouldn’t work in a world where delinquency, gang activity, and violence were the norm. Enter the melodic steel drum – and the beginning of the Cultural Academy for Excellence. Located in Prince George’s County, CAFÉ serves the growing population of Latino, Asian, and African youth ages 7 to 18. The aesthetic allure of the drum brings them in, and the music becomes serious business. Instruction takes students from beginner to university level, and the staff prepares them for two major international music skills examinations a year. Advanced students join the award-winning Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra. Language arts, reading, math, science, and chess are essentials, helping students hone their minds and prepare for careers in music, science, and technology. 99% of graduating seniors enroll in college (an adult ensemble donates its performance fees to the scholarship program). Jazz, gospel, classical, Calypso, R&B, Latin: all of these emanate from the steel drum. So does success. Won’t you join the music?

Lorna Green, Executive Director 11305 Chantilly Lane Mitchellville, MD 20721 301 262 9032 www.cafeyouth.org