The Huffington Post – Alena Hall
“When Larry Carthan was 9 years old, he discovered drumming as a creative outlet for his energy and frustrations. Decades later, after a 29-year career on Wall Street, he decided to return to his passion full-time and share music’s life-changing abilities with underserved kids in New York City…Carthan, who teaches children in all five boroughs, both exposes at-risk middle school students to the many benefits of creating music and serves as a healthy role model for them as they develop visions for their own successful futures. The music, as well as the resulting attitude shift, has brought dramatic change to the school…According to the directors of the SASI program, M.S. 421’s attendance rates jumped from 85 percent to 95 percent after the introduction of Carthan’s drum line program, and standardized testing scores increased as well.”(more)