OUR MISSION
The Quest Center helps builds & strengthen community through music.
The Quest Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit music education & youth development center located in downtown Dickson TN. We help build and strengthen community through music by helping to enrich the lives of children living in rural, lower-income communities. We provide year-round instrument instruction, music theory & other music education activities serving elementary, middle and high school students, including individuals with special needs, regardless of financial resources, abilities or other factors.
Our programs are proven to help students develop self-confidence, positive self-esteem, social skills, accountability and collaborative peer support - skills that help them succeed in school and prepare them to compete in the job market. And they can read and play music. Our operational model eliminates most barriers to participation, and no child is turned away for financial reasons. But everyone is expected to contribute.
OUR goals:
Our immediate and longer-term goals and objectives include:
- make year-round music education & youth development programs accessible for all students living in rural, lower-income communities regardless of financial resources, abilities or other factors;
- eliminate most barriers to participation by 1) offering low-cost instrument instruction; 2) providing additional financial scholarships for qualified families; 3) reducing transportation issues by conducting classes at locations throughout the community; 4) providing free in-class use of instruments and 5) offering home-loaner instruments, as available;
- provide a positive, creative & empowering environment that helps children develop self-confidence, positive self-esteem, social skills, accountability and collaborative peer support - skills that help them succeed in school and will prepare them to compete in the job market;
- provide a curriculum where all skill levels can experience a continuum of music activities: learn to read & play music, improve existing skills, collaborate with others, explore songwriting & performance and develop new relationships outside their normal routine;
- offer extended education opportunities that expose students to technical, business & creative career paths in music;
- provide leadership, passion and student engagement that help reduce boredom & risk behavior among youth, especially during non-school hours & summer months;
- involve youth in leadership roles, as Teaching Assistants.
- reinforce that character and relationships matter.
The Quest Center for Art & Community Development Inc. is recognized by the IRS as a non-profit organization under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to the Center are deductible under section 170 of the Code. We are also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code.