As a young girl, Linda Jaussi Christopher dreamed of being a professional singer, performing in her Idaho front yard for friends and strangers walking down her street.

Christopher eventually became a teacher, but never stopped acting. Along the way, she even created an on-stage and online persona named “America’s Favorite Grandmother” who, among other things, trained children for talent contests.

In 2019, her interests led her to partner with a psychologist and her husband to start JC Scholarly, a Peoria-area nonprofit that provides music tutors to students with special needs and low income. The band also strives to teach students performing skills and how to overcome performance anxiety.

The group awards scholarships and organizes two music competitions each year.

“Who knows what a child living in poverty or a person with a developmental delay could create if they had a little help… It is in our interests to ensure that the basic needs of our children and of our people are satisfied,” said Christopher.

What are the main needs of your organization? Help bring our programs to young people who can benefit from them. Professionals are needed to supervise the students. Funding, so that we can establish a building location and area to provide additional support for young people with special needs.

What do you envision for your organization? We work with experts to create content to explore how to resolve conflict and benefit our families and communities. We are in the process of formulating a series of videos on how ordinary people built a nation.

JC Scholarly will host its annual Spring Music and Science Festival at the Desert Outdoor Center in Lake Pleasant from noon to 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 26. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased on the group’s website, jcscholarly.org.

Roxanne De La Rosa covers the nonprofit community. Contact her at rdelarosa@azcentral.com.

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