About Bravo Waukegan
From alive to thriving, we have supported music education in Waukegan for 10 years!
OUR MISSION
Click here for a video about Bravo’s Mission
Growth
To foster academic, artistic and personal growth for Waukegan public school students through music.
Opportunity
To provide the highest quality resources to children who want to play music and to faculty who want to teach it.
Community
To build a stronger Waukegan community and empower students, using music as a connector and a common language.
WAUKEGAN
The Community We Serve
The city of Waukegan is the largest city in Lake County with a population of 86,792 residents. The demographics have shifted since 2000 with a significant increase in the Hispanic or Latino population, now making up 55.4% of the community. The origin of this population goes beyond Mexico to include Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Spain and countries from Central and South America.
Student Characteristics
The Waukegan school district (CUSD) 60 has 15,872 students with the top three ethnic populations being Hispanic 78%, Black 14%, White 4%.
Other characteristics include:
- Low Income 65%
- English Learners 35%
- With Disabilities 15%
- Homeless 3%
All students in the District are enrolled in the Illinois Free Lunch and Breakfast Program, as the vast majority of the student population household income falls within the guidelines mandated by the state for this program. In terms of academic success, Waukegan students lag behind the state average, meaning 14.8% are ready for the next grade level compared to the state’s 34%. College readiness statistics for Waukegan are low at 18% compared to the state’s 46%. The good news is that 60% of graduating seniors enroll at colleges and universities; however, this falls behind the Illinois average of 73%.
Students Studying Music Achieve More
The District’s music participation data shows that Waukegan High School students who study music outperform their non-music peers.
WPS High School Music Student Statistics
| 2018 - 2019 | Music Students | Non-Music Students | Totals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Music Participation | 596 | 4,095 | 4,691 |
| Participation Rate | 13% | 87% | |
| Graduation Rate | 86% | 70% | |
| AP Participation Rate | 32% | 9% | |
| Attendance Rate | 91% | 87% | |
| Average GPA (weighted) | 3.5 | 2.5 |
Music Students = All students who took at least one performance-based music class while at WHS
AP Participation Rate refers to the number of students who took advanced placement courses.
Attendance rate was measured Senior Year only.
The average GPAs includes all Senior students, graduating and non-graduating.
Sources:
City of Waukegan official website
Illinois At-A-Glance Report Card, 2018 – 2019
Illinois Census Data, 2018
WPS 60 Music Participation Data
Team
OUR TEAM:
KAREY WALKER
Executive Director
BARBARA DOLINGER
Volunteer Coordinator
Board
GLEN ROBERTS
President
JUDY GUMMERE
Vice President
STEPHEN MILOTA
Treasurer
MARY LAMPING, PhD
Secretary
COLLEEN CHANDLER
Director
LIAM CONNELL
Director
CHRISTOPHER DADOR
Director
DONALD EISENHAUER
Director
HECTOR RASGADO, PhD
Director
PAT SIKOROVSKY
Director
BARBARA STEINSEIFER
Director
Advisors
EDGAR CASTELLANOS
MIMI MURLEY
EUGENE HOTCHKISS, PhD
MARY JO PAPICH
ASHLEY MAENTZ
JIM STEPHENSON