Last year I wrote a brief end of year reflection after the academy’s first year. And so much awesome has happened in year two that I am doing it again.

At the end of year one we were still teaching private lessons out of our little house in Lacey, and between Jenna, Rob, and myself we had eleven regular private lesson students and one small group. In year two here are just a few of the ways this little academy has grown, with the support of all of our wonderful students, and many friends in the community.

July 2014: we offered promotional/free tuition to a handful of families to kickstart group classes. We launched two sections of Rhythm and Melody.

• August 2014: We held our first presentation night (concert) at a local café.

• October 2014: New and professionally designed website is launched
  1. The Olympian writes a story on the academy in the business section.
  2. A local attorney offers to do the non-profit paperwork for the academy for free.
  3. Lease is signed on the downtown Olympia building.
  4. New KAB (Keyboard for Absolute Beginners) class is launched and a second section of Instrumental Immersion is launched as well.
• December 2014: We hosted a second presentation night.
• April 2015: TIA is officially incorporated in the state of Washington as a 501(c)(3) non-profit academy.
• Groups and individuals perform as a part of the Olympia Arts Walk festival.

• In the spring, we also added a wonderful help to us, Amy, who is serving as our finance administrator.
• May 2015: We hosted our third presentation with over twenty-eight different acts including individuals and groups, nearly forty students presenting in all.
• We hosted a booth at the Lacey Spring Fun Fair and interacted with over one hundred people, mostly children and families.

• July 2015: Summer classes at TIA begin, launching FOUR new classes.

We have had a good summer at TIA thus far!

• We do have some important needs. Fall classes start September 7 and we are hoping for lots of new students, this will help us with our costs of running the academy and of course, and bless us with the opportunity for more relationships with the community, and more music and art.
• We also need someone skilled in photography and video that might be willing to help at three or four events a year.
• Financial: We have some local partners that have been so great in supporting us. We do need still to come up with $850 for the remaining IRS filing fee and are open to different fundraising possibilities. We firmly believe that once filed we can begin to apply for some grant money that may significantly increase our ability to serve the community of Olympia.

More to follow soon on some of the things we are looking forward to this year. We thank all of you that have supported us this year through time, gifts, and encouragement.