Today we’d like to introduce you to Peachtree Learning Center
Hi Peachtree, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Peachtree started as a ministry of a church in Cookeville, and became a self-sustaining non-profit in 2011. In the beginning, there were classes on Fridays to offer arts & music; it has grown into 2 campuses offering over 100 classes in all the Fine Arts, some targeted academics, preschool crafts & learning, and about 250 private lessons each week. We draw students from a 10-county area of the Upper Cumberland region, and have had people from as far east as Knoxville and as far west as Nolensville come for our offerings! Everything we offer is designed to train skill and excellence into students, in Music, Art, Dance, Drama, Heritage Crafts, and more, all to redeem God’s Purposes for creativity.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Anyone who has worked in the nonprofit arena knows there are ups & downs; ours are unique because as a Board-led 501(c)3 in a niche market, we have never sought outside monies. No grants, no applications for public funds, never. But our community of sweet families and beyond rises to the occasion when we have an urgent need! We occupy a 97-year-old church building in the center of downtown Cookeville, and so of course there have been emergency repairs, heating & air units going out during extreme weather, you name it. I have been part of Peachtree since 2011, first as a music teacher, then Board member, and then taking the Executive Director position when the Founding Director stepped down in 2018, and I have had a front-row seat to watching our community pour into Peachtree when they know there is a need! As we have sought God’s leading to expand our offerings, it has been a huge stretch, but our community & families have walked through with us, and He has brought exactly what we need every step of the way. Last summer a 95-yr-old building in Sparta became our 2nd campus, and we offer classes and lessons there to serve a slightly different geographic area with excellence and skill.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Peachtree started small with a deep desire to bless students and families with excellent training in creative pursuits, calling out the gifts in each child to make his or her community more beautiful and more creative. As we have grown, it has been paramount to keep our classes small in size, working with teachers who are also accomplished artisans and artists, and protect that DNA of intentional excellence. We eschew competitiveness between students, and focus instead on each student doing their very best as individuals or as part of one of our many ensembles. There are 3 levels of Drama classes that each put together a full-length performance this spring, capped with our High School troupe’s “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.” We have a Jazz Band, Rhythm/Mandolin Ensemble, String Orchestra, Handbell Choir, Vocal Choir, Bluegrass Band, Musical Theater Troupe, and more! Just this past year, we were blessed to offer about 40 different performing arts events and have students who performed in the community in many other events: singing, playing, offering dramatic performances. Students here have attended Mid-State and All-State choir & orchestra, won many area art awards, and just this summer we have a violinist at the prestigious Interlochen Music Festival in MI. Our faculty have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall, have been commissioned for personal & public art pieces, are published authors, work in film-making, & run arts businesses of their own, outside of teaching here. We take the arts seriously, knowing many students will tuck in life lessons of perseverance and the joy of achieving hard goals that will stand them in good stead no matter their future vocations, while some will pursue these skills as their life’s work.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
If you are a parent seeking instruction in fine art, get involved! Look for excellent teachers who not only will teach the desired skill but will impart a love of excellence and perseverance. Don’t be timid about your own capabilities; even if you don’t know art or music you can learn alongside your student! Sit in the lessons, watch their work, see what they are learning. And help your children develop the self-discipline to practice! Whether piano, violin, or sewing, learning a skill doesn’t happen in 30 minutes a week. That should be the springboard for it to become a daily habit! Self-discipline will serve young people for their entire lives, and if they can learn it while building an artistic skill that is way less traumatic than learning it through failure in academic arenas or in job settings. So roll up your sleeves and stay involved in what they learn. You might just pick up some skill that you didn’t know you wanted!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://peachtreelearningcenter.com
- Instagram: Peachtree Learning Center
- Facebook: Peachtree Learning Center
