Spring 2016

the Crowden Letter

Backstage with Crowden’s John Adams Young Composers Program

In 2017 we celebrate the tenth anniversary of our John Adams Young Composers Program (and its namesake’s 70th birthday). Here’s a glimpse into a typical semester for our Young Composers today.

Composing on a Theme

Each semester, Crowden’s Young Composers work with their private composition teachers and a professional performing ensemble to compose original works for a specific instrumental combination. The performing ensembles expose students to the unique challenges of composing for different instruments in various combinations, and give students constructive feedback on their works-in-progress. Over time, students learn the intricacies of composing for all the families of orchestral instruments. One semester might feature the Baumer Quartet and works for string quartet, the next

the Left Coast Ensemble and works for combinations of violin, flute, and piano. This past spring semester, our Young Composers worked with the new music collective SFsound on works using extended and graphic notation.

“The idea behind this project,” explains program director Matthew Cmiel, “was to expand the musical language that the students are drawing upon. I think that it is really exciting to see what happens when these students break free of the limitations of notation.

Some have pieces that are very free and leave a lot up to the performers, like a picture book that functions as a score.

…story continues on page 4

All Four Seasons

This year’s Crowden School “Basically Baroque” concert featured all four of Vivaldi's Seasons concerti in a single concert.

“It is quite a remarkable achievement that we were able to perform all of the Four Seasons,” Executive and Artistic Director (and violin teacher) Doris Fukawa commented. “The fact that each ensemble performed so musically, with energy and style, deftly negotiating the difficult ensemble passages, without conductors, with equally capable soloists, was simply stunning—with all players between the ages of twelve and fourteen. Truly awesome what our middle schoolers were able to accomplish! I was very proud of our young musicians!”

A Natural Builder

Crowden eighth grader William Peale loves building things. Growing up without a television or other electronics, his parents told him if he was interested in computers or computer games, he’d need to create them himself. So he built a desktop computer.

Crowden teachers provided him with opportunities to operate the sound board at concerts, sought out his assistance with electronics and machinery around school, and offered advice and guidance on his exploits, even giving him old computers and electronics to reuse and recycle. With the help of classmates, William refurbished several computers, daisy-chained them together, and began mining and arbitraging cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin, and other arcane cyber monies. He used some of the proceeds to buy parts to fulfill a long-standing dream of building an unmanned autonomous vehicle, a UAV, or drone.

One weekend day William was flying his drone when he crossed paths with a team from a local robotics startup. The group, which included the company CEO and a couple of

researchers from the MIT Media Lab, was interested in both the drone William built as well as his creative financing. They invited him in to tour their facility. For someone who’d spent hours toiling away in a cluttered basement with scavenged and improvised parts, finding himself in the research lab of a robotics company was a dream of the most amazing sort. During the tour, some researchers showed William a programming problem they’d been trying to solve. He took a look, offered some suggestions, and ended up with his name on a bit of their code.

Shortly thereafter, William began an independent study internship at the company, thanks to special arrangements and help from his Crowden teachers. Once a week, he works until the early evening, developing programming to help machines learn to swarm like birds and to see like humans. He returns to Crowden excited to discuss science, math, and programming problems he’s working on with his school teachers, who give him an enthusiastic ear and work to help him see his ideas to fruition.

William’s mom, Kristina Sepetys, shares, “We (William’s parents) are convinced that

only at a school like Crowden that encourages out-of-the-box creating and performance at the very highest levels, would this sort of opportunity be possible for William. And for that, we’re exceptionally grateful.”

Did you know: In a recent survey of TCS alumni, 25% of respondents said they hold jobs in science, more than any other field. 21% reported jobs in music.

A Memorable Night for a Milestone Achievement

Our 2016 gala Keys to Crowden was a huge success!

Celebrating the milestone achievement of owning our landmark building, this event reflected upon Crowden’s past and present homes. The lovely décor at Craneway Pavilion included a projected image of Crowden’s first building from more than 30 years ago, and a stunning tree where patrons could hang messages and wishes they had written for Crowden. The energy was buzzing as attendees mingled amongst impressive silent auction prizes such as packages from prominent local wineries and coveted tickets to sporting and cultural events.

After the reception, attendees were

ushered into the main dining room through a set of open doors replicating the entrance of Crowden’s beautiful building on Rose Street. Seated under a canopy of twinkling lights, guests watched 22 Crowden School students perform an impressive movement of Josef Suk’s Serenade. While enjoying a delicious meal catered by Jane Hammond Events, patrons had the opportunity to bid on numerous exciting live auction items including trips to the world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival and hand-crafted instruments of their choosing from Ifshin Violins.

The evening concluded with a remarkable performance representing four generations of Crowden musicians: the first movement

from Telemann’s Concerto for Four Violins in D Major was played by Executive and Artistic Director Doris Fukawa, Crowden Trustee and Crowden School alumnus Cary Koh, Crowden School alumnus Owen Dalby, and current Crowden School student Sofia Matthews. Attendees described the evening as “warm, intimate, and representative of what they love about Crowden.” The event was also a financial success, surpassing the fundraising totals of any previous Crowden gala. We would like to extend a special thank you to all who made this event such a success, including lead sponsors SHELBY AND FREDERICK GANS and MEYER SOUND LABORATORIES, INC. , and the dedicated Crowden staff.

…continued from page 1

Some students have written pieces that use very specific extended notations to represent very specific extended techniques. Some students have even invented a wholly separate, yet very precise form of notation that is a new way of thinking about music.”

Sophomore Henry Abrahamson found inspiration in code: “My father, for quite some time now, has been coding as a part of his job as a seismologist, working on various models for predicting how the ground reacts to different sorts of earthquakes. I have heard many a complaint or conversation on his coding: ‘Something’s not working right; I’ve checked it through multiple times; I’ve finally got it to work, but only after rewriting the entire thing.’ He said, ‘A computer does only what you tell it to do. Not what you want, but what you tell it.’ I thought about this phrase: ‘Only what you tell it to do.’ I thought that this was actually similar to our current means of notation—af-

ter all, a musician can only play what you tell them to do, not necessarily what you really want. So, why not combine the two? Thus, for this semester, I have written a piece that utilizes coding ideas and language in its notation and score, with each instrument having its own set of exact instructions.”

Crowden School graduate Theo Haber composed a cellphone suite for arrangements of violin, trombone, vibraphone, clarinet, oboe, and yes, cellphones. With the goal to “hopefully eliminate the blandly repetitive and robotically monotonous aspect,” Theo created a series of miniatures, with titles that cannily depict the most basic ways one repetitively operates a cell phone (pick up, scroll up, click here, etc.).

Sophomore Lucy Nelligan found inspiration while studying the history of early blues artists. For her piece rooted in the blues form, she drew a musical map for her musicians on top of a hand-drawn map of Clarksdale,

Mississippi—the hometown of many blues musicians. “Each musician follows a different path through this town,” she explains, “Sharing their own experiences with each other, musical or otherwise. I wanted this piece to convey the openness and freedom of the blues, as well as its own origins under harsh working conditions and intensive labor in the deep South.”

SFsound performed the final results in concert this past May, with students’ visual scores on display for the appreciative audience. “The amount of creativity that comes out of this program’s students is inspiring,” Matthew Cmiel concludes.

Composing for Choreography

Crowden continued its collaboration with the San Francisco Ballet this year, teaming up Young Composers with same-aged choreographers/dancers in Level 7 of the Ballet School. These young dancers selected three original works composed as part of Crowden’s summer

Young Composers Workshop, and worked with the composers throughout the year to create original dances, under the guidance of Matthew Cmiel and Dana Genshaft, contemporary dance instructor for the Ballet School.

The unusual opportunity presented challenges to both the teenaged choreographers and composers. One piece, composed in an uneven meter that dancers rarely work in (7/8), required substantial training. The dancers had to learn to devise counts, which are critical for choreographers, with uneven beat patterns. For another piece, the composer worked with the dancers to revise the composition to have a rounded binary structure, so that the dancers could begin and end with similar material, reflecting a return to the exposition of the dance story.

In April, the dancers performed the new works for a captivated invited audience during a special works-in-progress presentation hosted by the Ballet. The Young Composers and danc-

ers answered questions posed by Michel Taddei, representing Crowden’s artistic leadership, and Dana Genshaft. The composers all spoke eloquently from the heart about how meaningful the experience of seeing their works set to dance was for them. They discovered how this visual and narrative form brought out new aspects of their pieces that they hadn't suspected were in them. The results proved fascinating— truly exciting—for all in attendance.

Opportunities with Mentors

As another regular feature of each semester, a guest composer visits the program to speak with students and answer their questions. This past fall, the incomparable Kaija Saariaho treated students to a fascinating glimpse into her development and composition process. This spring, John Adams held an open rehearsal with the St. Lawrence String Quartet for students, workshopping the first two movements of his second string quartet. For an hour and

a half, the SLSQ players (including Crowden School alumnus Owen Dalby on second violin) pursued perfection, taking advantage of the composer’s presence with nuanced questions, determinedly dissecting the work’s challenges to its performers. “I spend a lot of time working and conducting orchestra,” marveled John Adams. “If you’re lucky you get three hours. You NEVER get something at the level of this [performance] right now—they’ve played it so often, they’re really an organism. It’s really satisfying.” Mr. Adams provided insights into the work being rehearsed, and shared thoughtprovoking and often very funny anecdotes both from his own career and music history. He often paused to give advice to the students in his namesake program: “I’d say to the composers, stay away from octaves when writing for string quartet,” he quipped, while jotting down a quick note about a note in the score.

With Your Support, Music Changes Everything!

The Crowden Music Center gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Crowden families, employees, individual members, government agencies, foundations, and businesses between June 1, 2015 and May 31, 2016. Kindly notify us of any inadvertent omissions. Thank you!

Crowden School

Families

Eileen Alden

Donna Jones-Bhandari and Rakesh Bhandari

Monique and Mark Camperi

Deborah Christy-Damon and Ryan Damon

Timothy and Cathy Der

Jessica and Robert Duran

Ted and Marina Ekman

Donna and James Eyestone

Michael Ferencz and Heidi Mattson

Doris Fukawa and Marijan Pevec

Jane Gottesman and Geoffrey Biddle

Eric and Wakako Gravel

Leslie and Jay Ifshin

Jasper Kamperman and Wieneke Gorter

Chris Lam and Lyn Phan

Casey and Kobi Ledor

Gina and Harry Loucks

Myla and Charlie Manese

Sue Martin and Brian Viani

Jerome Matthews and Jenny Yu

Laura Nemeth

Thomas Nemeth and Danielle Charboneau

Quang Nguyen and Nica Uk

Alexander Nichols and Sonya

Delwaide-Nichols

W. B. Peale and Kristina Sepetys

Maria and Jose Luis Poncel

Anthonia Roller and Wayne Heiser

Jonathan and Saori Russell

Monica Scott and Dominique Pelletey

Ilknur and Ilker Sozat

Deborah Spaulding Graham and Andrew Graham

Iris and Tom Stone

Emanuela Tallo and Dylan Riley

Charlotte and Drew Waters

Tim Wilkinson and Nomi Harris

Jovina and Vita Yee

Annie Yoon and JeongKyoo Choi

Faculty and Staff

Anonymous

Mori Achen and Maryann D’Onofrio

Cathy Allen and Brooke Aird

Marion Atherton and John Reager

Lisa Barratt

Göran and Christina Berg

Liana Berube and Jeffrey La Deur

Charlene Brendler

Maria and John Danielson

Rachel Durling

Michael Ferencz and Heidi Mattson

Doris Fukawa and Marijan Pevec

Kerri Gawryn

Lisa Grodin and Adam Cohen

Brad Johnson

John King

Larry London

Alyona Marenchuk

Betsy Marvit

Nanou and Teale Matteson

Debra Mauro

Stacy Neale

Kerrilyn Renshaw

Monica Scott and Dominique Pelletey

Rick Shinozaki and Irene Jacobson

Eugene Sor and Karen Shinozaki

Sor

Jen Strauss

Michel Taddei

Craig and Betsy Wahl

Robert Yamasato

Individual Donors

conductor ($25,000 & up)

Anonymous

Shelby and Frederick Gans

Helen and John Meyer

Stella Wu-Chu and Tze-Kuei Chu

benefactor ($10,00–24,999)

Anonymous

Deborah O'Grady and John Adams

Sallie and Edward Arens

Angela Archie

Jennifer and Elwyn Berlekamp

Amy and Eddie Orton

Patrick Golden and Susan Overhauser

Soo Hyang Kang and Jacob Pak

James Marks and Edna Lee Warnecke

sponsor ($5,000–9,999)

Anonymous (3)

Lois De Domenico

Zachary and Peggy Griffin

D.J. Grubb

Anne Nesbet and Eric Naiman

Earl and Rosalinda Rupp

Shariq Yosufzai and Brian James

presenter ($2,500–4,999)

Anonymous

Joan Balter

Kate Berenson

Liza and Michael Dalby

Tracy Dooley

Peter Fang and Erlinda Sy Fang

Nick Gerson

Bonnie Hampton

Cary Koh and Ting Chin

Sukey Lilienthal and David Roe

Cynthia Livingston and Samuel Leffler

John Lowitz and Fran KriegerLowitz

Elizabeth McCoy and Carl Haber

Marjorie Randolph

Lisa and James Taylor

composer ($1,000–2,499)

Anonymous

Susan and Norman Abrahamson

Valerie and William Anders

Noreen Axelson and Don Archer

Clark Chen

Lori Coleman and Steve Meckfessel

Janet Der

Ann and Jack Eastman

Charles and Harriett Feltman

Hilary and Daniel Goldstine

Iden Goodman and Roberta Schwartz

Cara and Timothy Hoxie

Steven Kay

Donn Logan and Marcy Wong

Ingrid Madsen and Victor Rauch

Bennett Markel

Claire Max and Jonathan Arons

John and Annamarie McCarthy

Ray Meister and Mary Lynn Miller

Richard and Myriam Misrach

Fernando Olivas

Ann and Michael Parker

Sangam Prasad

Michael Rubinstein

Debbra Wood and Robert Schwartz

Jane Tom

Steven Weinberger

Benjamin Wu

patron ($500–999)

Anonymous

Elizabeth Axelson and Don Regan

Noah Bendix-Balgley

Judith Bloom

Sarah and Matthew Brown

Richard Carll

Scott and Peggy Cmiel

Dorianne Cotter-Lockard

John Croizat

Carol Franc Buck

Gregory Freidin and Victoria Bonnell

Stan and Mary Friedman

Sydney Goldstein

Jane Hammond and John Skonberg

Rick Irving and Valerie Lagueux

Sandra Jennings and Shinji Eshima

Martha and Vaughan Jones

Michael and Ayelet Lindenstrauss Larsen

Helene Lee Toralba

Victoria Leonard and Noah Kahn

Kenneth and Heng-Chun Liu

Janet and Michael McCutcheon

Sally Nichols

Alex and Ditsa Pines

Joan Sarnat and David Hoffman

Elizabeth and Frank Sor

Julie and Robert Stokstad

Richard Thalheimer and Christina

Simonell

Jason Wang

David Ward

June Wiley and Bruce McCubbrey

Sara Wilson

Ben and Louriz Wojtowicz

Kent Young

friend ($250–499)

Anonymous

Ron Abileah and Marlene Winograd

Lynn Alexander

Alan and Helen Appleford

Greg and Kathryn Baldwin

Nathan Birnbaum

Howard Bulos and Linda Tedjakusuma

Jean Chastain

Jim Chou

Elisabeth Christensen

Linda Deaktor

Marsha and Michael Gardner

Roger and Joan Glassey

Sejal and Eric Hall

Gene Hanacek

Edith Haritatos and Geoffrey Gowan

Lynne Heinrich and Dwight Jaffee

Kathleen Henschel and John Dewes

Valerie and Richard Herr

Joanna Hirsch

Naomi Janowitz and Andrew Lazarus

Michael Jarzabkowski

Ken Kalman and Robin Bernstein

Philippa Kelly and Paul Dresher

Sophia Kessinger and Shmuel Katz

Sharon and Mike King

Sangeetha and Vijay Kotu

Marcos and Janet Maestre

Priscilla Magee

Rene Mandel

Keally McBride and John Zarobell

Karna Jean Nisewaner and Arne Stokstad

Nathan Olson

Youwen Pan and Judy Xiong

Daniel Pitt and Claudia Bloom

Madeline Prager

Carol Robertson

Sharon Seim

Saarika Sharma and John Reed

Justin Spencer

Tricia Swift

Maria and Otto Taddei

Robert and Helen Thompson

Christina and Gordon Ting

Elizabeth Varnhagen

Constance and J.P. Young associate ($100–249)

Melanie Beene

Dorian and George Bikle

Robert and Gloria Bloom

Roy and Susan Bogas

Eleanor Briccetti

Roberta Brokaw

Melinda Buchanan

Robert Clear and Barbara Judd

Laurie Cohen

Mark Cohen

Steven Cohen

Allan Crossman

Dean Curtis

Laurence and Barbara Delaney

Jacqueline Divenyi

Emerson and Sara Dubois

Patricia Durham

Rachel Eidbo

Robert Ellis and Jane Bernstein

Melanie Feakins and Alexei Yurchak

Roland and Lois Feller

Henry Field and Lessly Wikle Field

Mary Ellen Fine

Paul Fogel and V. Yvette Chalom

Haruko Fukawa

Kumiko Fukawa

Patricia Gay

Gail Graves

Melanie and Frederick Gutterson

Margo Hall

Nathaniel and Christine Hardin

Nancy and Nicholas Haritatos

Robin and Edie Hartshorne

Lorraine Hauser

Dr. John Hege

Fran Hill and Larry Frost

Barbara and Alan Hodgkinson

Helga Holtmann and Ronald Rice

Susan Ingerman and Arlene Siegelman

Gregoire and Tara Jacquet

Angela Jones

Kelsie Kerr and Matthew Heckert

Fred Konkel and Kathy Kaspar

Robert and Ileana Krumme

Alan and Portia Lee

Peter Lee

Andrea Liguori and Jeremy Cohen

Claire Liu

Eric Lum

Councilwoman Linda Maio

Robert and Taeko Mao

Richard Muller

Joan Murray

Aran Nafisi and Alexa Tritt

Alexander Nichols and Sonya Delwaide-Nichols

Brenda and James Nirenstein

Etsuyo Nishikimi

Victoria Párraga

James and Diane Pennington

Chunfen Pierce

Robert and Gunilla HaegerstromPortnoy

Susan Reed

Ron and Gail Rubenstein

Mary Savoie-Stephens

Judith and Peter Schumacher

Nina and Nathan Shoehalter

Timothy Smith

Rosalie and Peter Streett

Matias Tarnopolsky and Birgit Hottenrott

Margaret Traylor

Thomas Turinia

Anna Umar

Lillian Varga

Janet Weinstein

Juliet Welch

Florence Wong

Linda Wood

Diane Zimmerman

supporter ($50–99)

Barbara and Mark Altenberg

Ned Arens and Jacqueline CanlasLaFlam

Susie and Schuyler Bailey

Marci Buskala and Bart Bush

Crowden

Board of Trustees

officers

Earl Rupp, Chair

Timothy Der, Vice Chair

Zachary Griffin, Treasurer Angela Archie, Secretary

members

Josephine Chen

Monica Chew

Frances Colyer

Carolyn Doelling

Jacob Feldman

Aileen Frankel

Christine and Victor Gold

Lillian and Richard Goodman

Gretchen and Richard Grant

Linda Green

Ellen Hahn

Harriet and Peter Hanauer

Zhi Min Huang and Gui Zhou Liu

Alden Jenks and Mikako Endo

Donald E. Kelley Jr.

Martha Luehrmann

Helen Marcus

Anthony and Rosa Martin

Michiko Matsuo Luzmoor and Stephen Luzmoor

Nancy Merrill

Nancy Oldham

Kit Ratcliff and Janet Tam

Normita and George Santore

Charlene and Alan Steen

Leslie and Troy Tyler

Megumi Miyata and Robert Woodruff

In Kind Gifts

William Amory

David and Kerry Borgen

Rosemary Bower

Ronnie Boynton

W. Zacheus Cande and Darien

Spencer Cande

Jordan Christensen

Richard Crocker

Alice Cronin

Sandra Downey

Janet Evans

Lynn Glaser

Peter Jaffe

Bruce Klimoski

Alex Sanner

Arthur Schwartz

Vickie Semones

Joan Balter, Kate Berenson, Tracy Dooley, Angela Jones, Cary Koh, Bennett Markel, Jerome Matthews, Anne Nesbet, Jacob Pak, Sangam Prasad, Jason Wang, and Doris Fukawa, ex officio

music advisory board

John Adams, Bonnie Hampton, Gary Karr, Michael Morgan, Sir Simon Rattle

Donna Stoeing

Businesses & Organizations

Bank of America

Cadence Design Systems

Dealey, Renton & Associates

Genentech

Ifshin Violins

Kaiser Permanente

Meyer Sound

Roland Feller Violin Makers

Target

Wells Fargo

Institutional Donors

Anonymous (2)

Alameda County Arts

Commission / ARTSFUND Grants

Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation

Berkeley Civic Arts Commission

Bernard Osher Foundation

California Arts Council

East Bay Community Foundation

HEDCO Foundation

Hurlbut-Johnson Charitable Trusts

Jewish Community Federation

Pacific Harmony Foundation

Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Tides Foundation

Gifts in Tribute

in memory of willie archie:

Helen Marcus

Richard Muller

in memory of virginia baker:

Diane Zimmerman

in honor of joan balter:

Susan Ingerman and Arlene Siegelman

advisory board

Madeline Prager

jesse & elizabeth birnbaum

memorial fund:

Nathan Birnbaum

in honor of stephan and caelin boman:

Carol Robertson

albert braver musical instrument fund:

Robert and Gunilla HaegerstromPortnoy

christine c. chu cello

scholarship:

Benjamin Wu

Stella Wu-Chu and Tze-Kuei Chu

in memory of grethe clarke:

Dorian and George Bikle

Melinda Buchanan

Josephine Chen

Nancy and William Oldham

in memory of anne crowden:

Roy and Susan Bogas

Linda Deaktor

Gregory Freidin and Victoria Bonnell

Fran Hill and Larry Frost

Claire Liu

in memory of ken durling:

Rachel Durling

in memory of muriel evans:

Janet Evans

in honor of doris fukawa:

John and Annamarie McCarthy

in honor of laurette goldberg:

Anthony and Rosa Martin

in honor of bonnie hampton:

Monica Chew

in honor of miss jane, tencue:

Justin Spencer

Sallie Arens, Patrick Golden, John Lowitz, John McCarthy, Helen Meyer, Deborah O’Grady

founder Anne Crowden (1928–2004)

honorary president

Lord Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999)

founding president Colin Hampton (1911–1996)

Administration

Doris Fukawa, Executive and Artistic Director

Marion Atherton, Associate Director, Community Programs Director

William Betts, Community Programs Assistant

Maria Danielson, Staff Accountant

Lauren Eigenbrode, Admissions and Alumni Relations Manager

in honor of cary koh:

Mary and Stan Friedman

in honor of john lowitz:

Joan Balter

Mark Cohen

Gene Hanacek

Victoria Párraga

Charlene and Alan Steen

in memory of catherine graff maclaughlin: Anonymous

in honor of betsy marvit: Greg and Kathryn Baldwin

in honor of hildred merrill and doris fukawa:

Nancy Merrill

in honor of meyer sound: Joan Sarnat and David Hoffman in honor of helen meyer: Sydney Goldstein in honor of charlotte

peale and william peale: W. B. Peale and Kristina Sepetys in honor of kaelen russell: Jane Hammond and John Skonberg

in honor of arne stokstad: Karna Jean Nisewaner in honor of michel taddei: Laura Morgan and Betsy Ami

Monica Frame, tcs Counselor

Kerri Gawryn, Director of Development

Sharon Han, Front Desk Attendant

Brad Johnson, tcs Principal

Heidi Mattson, tcs Assistant Principal

Debra Mauro, Director of Finance

Lucas McGranahan, Development Associate and Grants Manager

Jorge Mendoza, Building and Grounds Assistant

Stacy Neale, Development and Communications Coordinator

Juan Rodriguez, Building and Grounds Supervisor

Eugene Sor, Assistant Artistic Director, Director of tcs Music

Jennifer Strauss, Director of Publications and Public Relations

Michel Taddei, Director of Artistic Administration

Stephannie Tornow, Front Desk Attendant

Crowden Letter

Jennifer Strauss, editor, writer, graphic designer

Kerri Gawryn, writer

Geoffrey Biddle, photography (except as noted)

Music Changes

Everything

In this Issue

1. Experience a semester with our Young Composers.

2. See highlights from our 2016 gala.

3. Learn how one student built his dream opportunity from old electronics donated by Crowden teachers.