Thank you for supporting the change.org petition “Save The Old Town School of Folk Music.” The petition has been signed by more than 5,400 people! Students and others concerned about the future of the School have been heartened by the support you’ve shown.
Thanks to you, our campaign -- which raises questions about the proposed sale of 909 W. Armitage and calls for more inclusive decision-making at the School – is gathering momentum. Read on for ideas on how YOU can help.
Students and friends of the School have formed a new organization, Save Old Town School (SOTS), to carry the battle forward. You’ll be hearing more from SOTS in the days and weeks ahead.
In the meantime, some updates:
- Our efforts have been covered by ABC7, Block Club Chicago and twice (here and here) by the Chicago Tribune.
- The School’s executive director told a Tribune reporter that our petition contained “inaccuracies or deliberate outright falsehoods.” But neither he nor the School’s spokesperson has given any specifics. We will gladly correct any inaccuracies that are called to our attention.
- A columnist for Nonprofit Quarterly wrote an excellent column criticizing the School’s leadership for how it handled this situation: A Good Nonprofit Decision Badly Made is No Good at All
Many of you have asked what else you can do to contribute to our movement. Here are some ideas:
1) Share the petition with others and ask them to sign it: https://bit.ly/SOTSpetition. We’ll be presenting the petition to the School’s board of directors soon; we’d love to add more names.
2) If you want to stay up to date on the latest developments, please sign up for the SOTS email newsletter: https://bit.ly/SOTSemail
3) Connect on social media:
- Join the SOTS Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/182193215995349/
- Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaveOldTownSch1
- Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saveoldtownschool/
4) If you want to contribute your time and talents, SOTS has established several working committees. If you are interested in helping out, please email saveoldtownschool@gmail.com and tell us what you are interested in doing.
Thank you for your support!