KIDS COUNT breakfast

Early (WAY too early) Monday morning, the Phase III student quartet met at the CMW office to head over to Warwick’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, where the quartet had been invited to play for the RI Kids Count breakfast. The breakfast was to celebrate the release of the 2009 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook, which reports on 63 indicators of child well-being across five subjects: Family and Community, Economic Well-Being, Health, Safety, and Education.

The breakfast was held in the Grand Ballroom at the hotel, where more than 300 supporters of Kids Count gathered to enjoy French toast and fresh fruit. The quartet was seated onstage at the front of the room, near the podium where Kids Count Executive Director Elizabeth Burke Bryant greeted guests. Also featured on the program were Senator Jack Reed, Harriet Meyer, President of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, who gave a great keynote address, and Amber Johnson, winner of the RI Poetry Out Loud Competition. The quartet played Lift Every Voice, We Shall Overcome, and the first movement of the Mozart Quartet in G Major, K. 156. The audience was very appreciative, and the quartet later showed up on Channel 10’s coverage of the event!

The quartet was able to grab a quick breakfast after their performance, and enjoyed chatting with Tom Brady (that’s the Superintendent of the Providence Public Schools Tom Brady, not the Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady). Then it was back to school, after a great performance, and a great start to the week.

-Phase III (Luis, Kirby, Sydney)