AJGpr client Steven Angel and his Reading & Rhythm program was recently featured in a segment produced by Laura Diaz on Fox 11.

Steven was a child prodigy who started playing the drums at age three. At six, he played with the legendary Buddy Rich’s band, opened for Herman’s Hermits and The Animals while on tour in the US and Canada, and at 16, Steven recorded an album with Jimi Hendrix’s bass player. Today, Steven focuses his attention helping others with the beat of the drum with his non-profit organization Drumming for Your Life Institute (DFYL).

Of the four programs DFYL currently runs, their greatest expansion is with the Reading & Rhythm program. With Reading & Rhythm, Steven has created an innovative in-class or afterschool program that addresses the educational and psychological needs of struggling readers K-12.  Reading & Rhythm improves student’s reading scores by creating better comprehension and increased fluency.  Unlike other reading programs, which focus on left-brain learning, DFYL uses rhythm to integrate the left and right hemispheres of the brain. The use of rhythm wakes up the whole brain and organically integrating the both hemispheres of the brain – fostering Intuitive Intelligence.

Steven and his team of teachers witness daily the positive difference that Reading & Rhythm is making in the lives of kids who are struggling readers or illiterate. The inability to read well profoundly harms a child’s ability to succeed in school and in life. The merging of rhythm into the learning process helps transform negative energy into a positive force in the classroom. After participating in the 6-week program one LA-based middle school student declared, “Now, I feel smart.”

“Statistics show that students with low literacy are at high risk of failing to graduate high school, becoming unemployed, obtaining only low-paying jobs, living in poverty, and being convicted of a crime,” says Steven. His goal and that of DFYL is to address the nation’s reading crisis and alleviate illiteracy, which is growing in epic proportions in the United States.

Since its inception in 2002, the Reading & Rhythm program has witnessed tremendous growth reaching kids as far away as Massachusetts and London. In over a decade, more than 3,000 struggling kids have passed through the program increasing their reading scores by an average of 50%.

Steven, a leading advocate of the educational benefits of drumming, trains and certifies teachers and facilitators nationally in the Reading & Rhythm Teacher Training Program. Imagine how many kids in your school could benefit by bringing Reading & Rhythm into their classroom? Or with substantial funding, imagine how many kids DFYL could teach?