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Summer break is upon us, which means kids are home from school with their families. Some may be planning vacations, while others may be relaxing at home. For children of inmates, their living situation often changes when their parent is imprisoned. When they go to live with a relative or in another environment, this change is known as “kinship care”. …

Meet Tania van Bree, one of the most recent music therapists to join the Sparks team! Tania was born and raised in Austin, Texas. She earned a Bachelors of Music Performance from DePaul University, a Master of Arts, Entertainment and Media Management from Columbia College of Chicago, and a Music Therapy Equivalency Distance degree from Saint Mary of the Woods …

Three Ways to Make a Difference for Mental Health Awareness Month Mental Health Awareness Month occurs each May. Founded by Mental Health America in 1949, Mental Health Awareness Month was created to raise national awareness about mental illness, while also providing resources to promote mental well-being and reduce stigma. This year, the theme of Mental Health Awareness Month is Take …

In our our May 2025 blog post, we announced that 82% of Sparks students in 2024-2025 made progress on their individually assigned social-emotional learning (SEL) skill goals, per reports from our music therapists.  Not only did our music therapists report on the progress of the students, but our students also took a survey about their experience of participating in music …

The school year has ended and summer is in full swing! Our Sparks students have a lot to be proud of in their progress over the past school year. Sparks’ music therapists worked tirelessly this year to help our students learn many social and emotional skills. Each student had up to three individual skills being measured across all sessions. In …