St. Catharines Standard | Thursday, July 23, 2015 11:40:16 EDT PM

Nine-year-old Jaekob Moore could have played basketball. Or soccer. Or he could have continued on with tae kwon do. Instead, he chose music.

He started piano lessons in February. And he already has a repertoire of songs and multiple achievement stickers on the front cover of his Primer Level Piano Student music book.

Back in November, his older brother, Charles, started electric guitar lessons. Jaekob thought it looked fun. So, when his mother, Justina Moore, asked "What do you want to do?", Jaekob carefully considered all his options and picked music.

"When CJ started to play guitar, I wanted to play something too," says Jaekob.

But weekly music lessons for two boys were beyond the budget of the single mother who lives on assistance in St. Catharines. She had some help from ProKids, a program that provides $100 a year to children in families whose annual income is less than $40,000. ProKids is funded mostly by Niagara Region, and runs in partnership with the St. Catharines YMCA to match children with programs that interest them. Last year, nearly 2,600 kids from across Niagara received funding to take part in activities than range from sports to cultural, says Kristy McKitrick, manager of media relations at the YMCA.

There are 175 local organizations that have partnered with ProKids, including six music programs.

The funding would give Justina five, half-hour lessons for each of her boys. Many families drop out after the funding ends because they can't afford to continue with lessons, says Greg Wierzcholski, owner of the Niagara Conservatory of Music.

And that bothered him.

"Music gives kids confidence," he says. "It gives them an outlet. It keeps them grounded. It makes them feel good about themselves."

So, he created his own program., Music Gives Movement, to help low-income families keep their kids in music. The program is available to children who are eligible for ProKids funding. Wierzcholski's goal is to fund half of the lessons, so in a four-lesson month, parents would pay for two lessons, or $39. He is organizing music events to raise funds.

Justina says music had already changed her boys.

Charles is doing better in school; his Grade 6 marks at the DSBN Academy have improved from C's to B's and even a couple of A's at midterm. He's even joined a band through the music studio, and the group will rock out to AC/DC's Highway to Hell at a concert in July.

He's not too keen on solo public performances, but in a band, he's more confident.

"I told him to just look at your notes and your guitar and it's going to be OK," says Justina.

As for Jaekob, he just acquired his own piano after his mom found it for free on a Facebook site, and her father and brothers picked it up for her.

Jaekob pulls out his music book to show off the stickers on the front cover. Four superman, 10 smiley faces and three owls. If he names all the notes to a song correctly, he gets a sticker. If his teacher puts a check mark at the bottom of a page in the book, that means he plays the song well enough to advance on to another piece. He has a lot of check marks.

"Then you don't have to do so much songs over and over again," he says.

His favourite song is Hot Cross Buns, followed closely by Echo. He doesn't hesitate to give an impromptu performance.

Justina wants to give her boys an opportunity she never had. "When I was younger, I would have given anything to play the violin," she says.

Her family couldn't afford lessons. And she didn't want money to be the reason her boys couldn't learn an instrument.

So, to make sure she could follow through with her end of the deal, Justina quit smoking a few months ago and puts that money towards music lessons.

"If I was still smoking, I wouldn't be able to afford lessons," she says.

She started smoking at age 14 and was up to a pack a day. At 29, she had tried to quit other times. "This time I wanted it more," she says.

If she's ever in doubt, all she needs to do is listen to her boys play a song.

And then it all makes sense.

PROKIDS

ProKids: Families apply for funding through Niagara Region, and the St. Catharines YMCA matches eligible children to programs that interest them. For information, call 905-984-6900 ext. 3797 or 1-800-263-7215 or email prokids@niagararegion.ca.

MUSIC GIVES MOVEMENT

Music Gives Movement: For more information on music programs at the Niagara Conservatory of Music, call 905-688-5051 or visit www.niagaraconservatory.com/