KS Registration form 2012      JB HiFi Kool Skools Competition (pdf entry form)

Natasha Duarte’ school tour      KS Award Frame Order Form

recording prize

register for Kool Skools 2012 recording studio project

Kool Skools is quite simply the most exciting way to engage and motivate your students. Kool Skools will provide the education and support your students need within the realm of music, songwriting and in the entertainment industry as a whole. Kool Skools is the perfect way to gain real world experience as it provides the opportunity for young people to work in a professional workplace with people from the industry. The outcomes are real and life enriching.
Many of the young people who have come through Kool Skools have gone on to careers in music, the arts, media and entertainment industries including some major names as you will see listed. Kool Skools is not a competition or battle of the bands, it is the ultimate work experience program in the areas that excite and interest most young people – music, technology, pop culture, video and photography, live performance and all things creative. The recordings, photos, videos and CD’s created through the project will help your students gain self esteem and will have the added benefit of promoting and showcasing your school or council’s commitment to young people in providing the opportunities they really want.
Kool Skools is an exciting Recording and Multimedia Project for secondary level students now well into its second decade. Projects are open to all secondary schools and council youth agencies, youth associations and clubs. Kool Skools promotes, develops and supports a diverse range of talent and all genres of contemporary music writing and performance.
Working within a professional recording environment in Sydney or Melbourne, your school or youth agency will record an album of music by your musicians, singers and bands plus produce 500 CD’s containing the music, graphics and digital imagery created by your students.
Recordings are held in professional production houses: Megaphon Studios and Studio 52. Each school receives 450 copies of their individual CD for their own use as part of the project with a further 50 copies distributed free to sponsors, media outlets and through other youth promotions. An overall ‘Best of Kool Skools’ CD is also produced each year.

You are encouraged to create a “student compilation album”, in order to involve a diverse range of students not necessarily limited to those already doing music or music studies. Kool Skools is remarkable in the way it can engage and inspire even the most hard to reach young people or those who are normally way “too cool” to join in on other school group activities. It works because it allows them to express their own individuality even while still fostering an overall team spirit. Students can strive for personal best achievement as well as success as a group. Music teachers or youth officers can use Kool Skools to inspire musicians and groups from around the whole school or community, this is a great way to broaden the music and arts culture within a school or community centre.

Kool Skools provides education that cannot be delivered in a traditional school environment. It’s educational value is evident having a dramatic impact on student’s creative skills along with major improvements in general technical skills across the board. The recording studio is like a microscope, allowing each student to look much closer at their individual strengths and weaknesses. Kool Skools is a successful springboard and training ground for developing career opportunities. Not only does it provide real career options, students involved gain valuable insights into aspects of these industries. They also gain time management skills and the ability to meet strict working deadlines within a creative environment.

Kool Skools receives assistance and support from a variety of sponsors such as JB Hi-Fi and Studio 52 along with various music companies and industry grants. Support from the studios involved allows the project to be provided at a heavily subsidised rate and therefore be affordable to all schools and students. Kool Skools is designed to be self-funding, with many schools pre-selling their CD’s not only to cover costs, but also generating extra funds. For regional schools who have the burden of travel & accommodation, it is recommended that local fundraising events are planned and individual community sponsors be sought and thanked by providing advertising within the school’s eight page CD booklet. Some schools also join forces with other schools within their region or in collaboration with their local Council. Multiple school combined projects are a great option for smaller schools. The overall project fee covers the recording costs, the CD manufacture and 30 tickets to the main awards showcase held in each state. For details about the project cost and payment terms call the main Kool Skools number (03) 9417-7707.

The Kool Skools CD can be used as an effective marketing tool towards the overall promotion of your school’s or community activities. The Kool Skools ‘Best of’ compilation CD and each individual school CD is also supplied by Kool Skools to industry professionals and media throughout Australia, with aspects of each school project published on the Kool Skools website. The works created also act as an important folio item for students. We strongly advise that each project prepare a ‘Media Release’ which can be written by the teachers and students collectively. This can then be used to gain attention for the school in local press and other media.

Kool Skools is designed to motivate students all year round. Rather than being a one off project to be completed within the studio, it is envisioned that the students work all year developing their songwriting and general performance skills, artwork and media design. If woven into your school curriculum or a community festival, Kool Skools can be a valuable motivational device to keep students focused on the realisation of their goals. It will also aid in building team spirit and the self esteem of all those participating.

Share the Project – Collaborate with schools or councils in your region – if you think your school is too small to participate in Kool Skools you’re wrong, simply join forces with another local school or get the local council involved with a variety of schools under one banner. Its so much fun and so positive for your students to network with other budding musos and songwriters plus it opens the way to build great partnerships and community ties.

Students also receive public recognition for their hard work and dedication by inviting their family and friends to the ARIA style awards nights at the culmination of the project. These are no ordinary school speech nights. They are held in major venues and feature  concert sound systems, full lighting and multimedia presentations. The Award Nights aim to highlight the quality of work through live performances and awards presented by sponsors and patrons who support them. Each year about 35 acts from the project get chosen to perform. Not to be missed!

Calendar + Timelines:
Application & acceptance process
(until all allocations are full: 35 places in Victoria and 15 places in NSW)
• Recordings take place between April & September
• CDs manufactured and delivered within a month of recording completion date
• Awards Nights in Melbourne and in Sydney, mid November dates TBA
• Memories & outcomes will last forever

Accessible to all schools
Kool Skools is heavily subsidised, thanks to Sponsors involved in the project more than 60% of the cost is covered for you. If you are interested in registering please call the Kool Skools main office to discuss the overall cost of participation. The project fee includes the studio recordings, artwork and multimedia components, 500 CDs manufactured of your album, 30 tickets to the awards night and inclusion in all the Kool Skools activities, materials and website.

Collaborate for Success!
If you are concerned that Kool Skools is too big for your school then why not collaborate with other schools in your area under a shared project. Many schools also participate under the shared projects organised by shire councils and similar entities. Kool Skools can also customise projects to suit multi school projects, talk to Paul Higgins at Kool Skools main office to discuss options.

Contact Us
For more information, please call
the team at Kool Skools and
Studio 52 in Melbourne
on (03) 9417 7707

Specific NSW or ACT project enquiries
can also be directed to
Megaphon Recording Studios
in Sydney on
(02) 9550-6576

Kool Skools Recording Project
National Coordination Office:
Kool Skools Pty Ltd
c/o Studio 52
23-25a Johnston St
Collingwood
Victoria 3066
ph: (03) 9417 7707
fax: (03) 9417 5294
email paul@studio52.com.au
www.koolskools.com.au <http://www.koolskools.com.au>

As always there will be two State Awards nights, the dates are:

VIC: Melbourne: Saturday 19th November 6pm, The Thornbury Theatre, 859 High St, Thornbury.

NSW: Sydney: Wednesday 23rd November 7pm, Notes Live Live Music in Newtown View Larger Map 75 Enmore Road, Newtown.

Tickets orders will be sent out shortly. If you need extra Tickets to attend? Please call 03 9417 7707 to talk to Paul, or email him ASAP with numbers of tickets you need! Tickets are $30 each or discounted for groups of 20.

Bands performing have not yet been chosen as the judging process has just begun. In due course we will announce those invited to perform and provide sound check times and other relevant details. All Nominations and awards will be announced on the nights without prior notice, so be there or miss the excitement!

If you have any questions, concerns or general enquiries, Please do not hesitate to get in touch.

See them first at Kool Skools… Past Kool Skools Awards shows introduced artists like DELTA GOODREM, MISSY HIGGINS, ANTHONY CALLEA, AXLE WHITEHEAD, DEAN GEYER & MARC COLLIS performing live to audiences for the first time…. So who will it be in 2011? ….See the stars of tomorrow first at Kool Skools.

As always there will be two State Awards nights, the dates are:

VIC: Melbourne: Monday 15th November 6pm, The Victory Room Etihad Stadium View Larger Map

NSW: Sydney: Wednesday 17th November 7pm, Notes Live Live Music in Newtown View Larger Map

Tickets orders will be sent out shortly. If you need extra Tickets to attend? Please call 03 9417 7707 to talk to Paul, or email him ASAP with numbers of tickets you need!

Bands performing have not yet been chosen as the judging process is yet to proceed. In due course we will announce those invited to perform and provide sound check times and other relevant details.

If you have any questions, concerns or general enquiries, Please do not hesitate to get in touch.

One of the young artists from recent Kool Skools who seems absolutely destined to become a household name is Natasha Duarte.

So while we start to put all the content on the page please check out some of the comments like this one from Jim Sismanes below from the testimonials page. Please feel free to send in your stories to me for inclusion on the site and on the Facebook page.

“I was involved with Kool Skools from the start and thought it was a winner of an idea as soon as I heard the concept many years ago when it was first pitched to a handful of teachers in 1996. Over the last 15 years I have seen first hand what an amazing impact the ‘Kool Skools’ project had on our school and its community. It is not an understatement to say it has changed the lives of many of its participants and always for the better. Before we got involved with the ‘Kool Skools’ project our school had an almost non existent music program . Thomastown SC now boasts its own music recording studio and an extensive music program and a strong musical culture that owes its existence to the ongoing success and participation within the ‘Kool Skools’ project. (Thomastown has participated in every single year of Kool Skools since its inception and it has become an integral part of the school, its curriculum and its community.) There has never been, in my 25 years of teaching, a better program that teaches, motivates and instills such pride in achievement to students who take part in it.” Jim Sismanes . Music Coordinator -Thomastown Sec. College- 1996-2007