Chili Peppers drummer brings his spice, advice to Paramount middle schoolers
CALIFORNIA (January 18, 2019) — Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith stopped by Zamboni Middle School on a rainy Thursday morning, Jan. 17, to ignite the Paramount student’s creative side and show them that a future in the arts is a viable and obtainable career path.
As part of the Turnaround Arts program, founded in 2011 by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and former first lady Michelle Obama, Turnaround Arts: California provides support for arts in select schools.
“There’s a really narrowing of curriculum to focus on subjects that are tested. There’s so much at stake based on test scores, you have limited resources and time so you have to focus on the things that are tested,” said Jacob Campbell, program manager for Turnaround Arts. “(Turnaround Arts is) trying to say that by developing both halves (of the brain), and looking at the whole child, you will see gains on both sides.”