Stage one · Custody or program entry
First Verse
Financial Insight through Restorative Storytelling. Participants build economic vocabulary and self-awareness through lyric writing, discussion and recording. The goal is informed decision-makers, whether or not anyone becomes a professional musician.
Setting
Juvenile halls, probation camps, schools, community centers, alternative education and youth development programs.
Length
8 weeks · one 3-hour session per week (weeks 1–8 of the 12-week arc).
Who it serves
Young people, primarily 14–25, with little or no prior economics or music training.
Ends with
A First Verse Blueprint and a fully mixed original song.
Purpose
See the system you’re standing in
Week 1 opens with a simple question: what system are you standing in right now, and did you choose it? Participants look at the SC-Citizen and notice where the person is: surrounded, inside, everything moving around them. That is the starting point for everything after.
From there, each week takes one factor and turns it into a creative exercise and a piece of music. By week 8, each participant fills in a one-page blueprint answering all four factor questions for their own life.
Activities
- Lyric writing from lived experience: bars, verses, hooks and bridges
- Group cyphers and structured, strengths-first peer feedback
- Beat creation: drum pattern, melody, arrangement
- Plain-language talks on publishing, masters and splits
- Private journaling, always opt-in to share
- Recording and a guided mix of an original song
Weeks 1–8
Foundation, then application
| Week | Focus | What gets made |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | You are already in the system | A written 4-line bar; group mural of systems we’re inside |
| 2 | Land · where creation happens | Recorded verse about a place |
| 3 | Labor · what you contribute | Song draft: hook + verse |
| 4 | Four Factors map · milestone | Recorded song, rough mix |
| 5 | Capital · what amplifies effort | An original 4-bar beat loop |
| 6 | Entrepreneurship · who controls direction | Second song draft; first ownership decision |
| 7 | When one factor is missing | A bridge that names the missing factor |
| 8 | First Verse Blueprint · milestone | Completed blueprint + fully mixed song |
What comes next
Continue into Next Verse, or stop here with a finished song
When a participant moves into reentry or transitional housing, Next Verse continues with the same facilitator and framework. First Verse is also a complete program by itself.