These Kids Today

I'm pretty proud of a number of things that we've accomplished in the past couple of years at The Cedar, but possibly nothing more than the cultivation of our relationship with an organization called Project SUCCESS. This is a Twin Cities non-profit that works with Minneapolis and St. Paul public middle and high school students to "develop life skills and inspire them to act on their dreams."

What we do with them is identify shows to which we both feel students would be responsive, and then The Cedar donates a set number of tickets for them to give to students and their families. They then have Project SUCCESS staff go into the classrooms to describe the event and invite students, coordinate the sign-up and provide transportation to and from The Cedar (through their volunteers).

Our first event with Project SUCCESS was a special Carolina Chocolate Drops show last January, with 300 students and their families. What a blast! The set culminated with their great cover of Blu Cantrell's R&B hit "Hit 'Em Up Style" (here's a live TV performance of it):

This got virtually all of the students attending from Minneapolis North and Minneapolis South High Schools up and dancing!

This season our Project SUCCESS shows have included Balkan Beat Box, Gokh-Bi System and last week's fun Pistolera show. And later in the month, in addition to having some students to one of the Carolina Chocolate Drops shows at The Cedar, we are working with Project SUCCESS to bring the the band out to Minneapolis Patrick Henry High School on Monday, March 30 for a pair of demonstration workshops.

Look for more Project SUCCESS events in the fall, thanks in part to support from the General Mills Foundation and their Communities of Color program.