The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus will make stops at Kingsley Elementary School in Pomona and Cal Poly Pomona from April 22 to 24 to spark creativity and inspire interest in music education.
The tour bus, which is loaded with state-of-the-art music equipment, will offer a rare glimpse into the professional music industry. The Lennon bus stop is one of the service projects that Cal Poly Pomona has with Kingsley to enrich educational opportunities for children, which is much needed given the challenges in funding for the arts. For more than a year, Music Professor Jennifer Amaya and her service-learning class have been teaching interactive music workshops at Kingsley.
"We are thrilled to have the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus visiting us," says Professor Michael Millar, director of the Center for Community Engagement at Cal Poly Pomona. "The Lennon Bus is well known in the music industry for its high-impact brand of community engagement. You won't want to miss this!"
The interior of the John Lennon Tour Bus.
On Tuesday, April 22, Kingsley elementary students will tour the multimillion-dollar recording studio bus. The entire school will also form a giant peace sign, which will be photographed in the sky by a photographer in a helicopter. The next day, a small group of Kingsley students will record and produce a music video. Amaya and Cal Poly Pomona students will help guide its production.
On Thursday, April 24, the John Lennon bus will park at University Park at Cal Poly Pomona from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., offering 20-minute tours for the campus community. In addition, the bus will set up a photo booth and a jam tent with instruments.
Service-learning is a part of Cal Poly Pomona's strategic plan. To celebrate the university's 75th anniversary, the Center for Community Engagement is demonstrating and mobilizing the caring power of the Cal Poly Pomona through "75 Acts of Kindness." Projects include a cleanup at the Boys and Girls Club of Pomona Valley, helping restore the watershed at Angeles National Forest, distributing Thanksgiving meals, and volunteering on Pomona Beautification Day.