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History and Mission
The stark reality that children in low-income communities lag in academic achievement behind those from wealthier districts is one of today’s greatest socioeconomic challenges. With the power of Troubadour’s unique in-classroom programs and activities, we have a significant opportunity to bridge this widening gap and effect meaningful change in the lives of these children.
Since 1981, Troubadour’s mission has been to improve student literacy and academic achievement in underserved Massachusetts schools, grades K-8, through poetry, song lyrics and prose, while at the same time empowering teachers with dynamic strategies to strengthen instructional practice in the literary arts.
For more than twenty-five years, we have engaged students in the writing process, developed award-winning curriculum materials, gained the trust and support of school administrators and staff and engendered willingness among teachers both to follow through on lessons we introduce and to use our strategies and techniques on their own in succeeding years.
Looking forward, Troubadour has committed to a number of far-reaching and ambitious goals. These include adapting our organizational structure to ensure sustainability for the long-term, developing and implementing a multi-pronged fund raising/marketing plan, refining and institutionalizing our curriculum materials and presentations and conducting active research and development to keep our programs and curriculum materials, not just current, but cutting-edge. With the benefit of increased funding through broad-based donor support, Troubadour will achieve these goals while maintaining the same exceptional quality of programming that our school partners and our other supporters expect and that our students deserve.