The worldwide events of last March left many students in an alien and precarious state and forced them to stay that way leading into the summer. Summer programs countrywide were immediately closed, money refunded, leaving students with uneventful days and empty plans. Although this brave new world posed a threat for many who had- until that moment- a cut-out plan, some took the opportunity to create something beautiful that would outlast the execrable circumstances it was born into.
Sophia Sorcigli, a junior drama major, currently attending LaGuardia High School, was one of the few that utilized her abilities during a time of low morale and diminishing motivation to create something that could be of benefit to others. During the summer of 2020, Sorcigli realized her summer was soon going to be used in an unproductive manner, and began frantically applying for internships to help out communities in any way she could, eventually joining an online program in L.A.; a tutoring service started by teenagers that had grown vastly since its conception. Impressed by the growth of a project started by teenagers, Sophia left the internship and began to think, "If that teenager can do this all by herself—make something so big that it can reach coast to coast—why can't I? They're doing academic stuff, why don't I focus on the arts?" The fall of in-person activities had cut a lot of students off from their regularly scheduled art camps and daytime activities, and Sorcigli began to excogitate ways to bring them back.
She quickly reached out to classmates and friends in Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, using Zoom and FaceTime to conduct early-morning meetings for those interested in her proposition, which would eventually become the birthplace of “C4C”, Crafters-For-Creativity.
What exactly is C4C?
C4C, or Crafters for Creativity, is a nonprofit organization under New York State, our goal being to provide artistic accessibility to students across the tri-state area. We hold Zoom classes right now with volunteers who teach kids from all different schools; a variety of elementary schools and middle schools all around New York, and some even out of state. Our arts programs, ranging from instrumental classes to visual arts classes- we basically have it all man. We started off in July 2020, so it’s only been running for about a year so far.
What was your mission at the start and how has it changed over the course of a year, if at all?
Our mission at the start was really about providing kids with exposure to other kids- basically allowing them to socialize during the pandemic because for a lot of kids, their summer camps and programs were canceled. We thought that C4C would be a good way to bring people together, whether it was volunteers or students we were teaching. In that sense, I don't really think our mission has changed; it's rather grown to hoping that one day we can do this in person and allow kids to socialize in-person as well; maybe in parks or other public places throughout the summer. We've also been trying to work with shelters and places like Mount Sinai to get kids involved that ordinarily wouldn’t have these opportunities. Our mission has only grown to be bigger and reach organizations and groups that I never even imagined working with.”
How did you feel during the early stages of development? I’d be surprised if you weren’t at least a little concerned.
It really was. That period was the most anxiety I've ever had in my entire life. Not even auditioning for LaGuardia came close. This was the most anxious and pressured I'd ever felt because, not even thinking about how I played a part, I felt a responsibility for the volunteers relying on me, the parents of the kids relying on me; it was just this new weight that I'd never had to deal with before. There were some points when I thought, "Am I really gonna pull through with this, is this really gonna work out, what am I doing?" I never thought I'd be working on as big a project as this. In the end though it worked out. I think it actually ended up being all that pressure that really got me through the rough parts, and it ended up turning out to be absolutely incredible.
The company was a gradual success, and as more students began signing up and getting involved, the staff did as well.
“Right now we have a staff of about 40 teachers; overall we've had about 80 volunteers filter in and out throughout the year. Student-wise we've worked with about 600 kids overall, which was a turnout way higher than I was expecting.”
Whilst the initial intention was merely to bring kids together and give them a reason to continue having fun, contributing to the program was, in some ways, therapeutic for the staff as well. Sorcigli recalls fond memories of conversations between her and other students at school, saying she probably wouldn’t have talked to them if it wasn’t for this program. Students can benefit from joining the program as much as kids; receiving the experience of working with others in a professional performing arts environment and teaching business (as well as getting one hell of a leg-up on college applications) is not without merit.
Sorcigli also attributes a great deal of the company’s success to its employees:
"The biggest part of C4C are the teachers. We wouldn’t be able to hold a single class if it weren’t for the volunteers. Their dedication to the classes and their love for the kids . . . - I mean sometimes I log onto classes and the kids will just be so happy because of what the teachers are doing. Losing any one teacher is detrimental to the success of that class, because it’s so personal the relationship some of these kids have with our teachers. Anyone that’s ever worked here, held a workshop or even simply worked on the board is so valued because of what they bring to the table.”
As you mentioned earlier, C4C became a nonprofit organization recently. Do you plan to continue moving forward hitting different business milestones, or sort of stay where you are now and just continue growing internally?
Right now we’re a nonprofit organization under New York State, but we don’t have a 501-C3, which means we aren’t tax exempt, but because we’re sponsored by a larger organization (shout-out Sixth Street Center!) we can continue raising money. Since we’re entering our senior year we’ll most likely continue working under our current title right now just because it’s easy to work with. It’s just that Sixth Street just takes a small percentage of whatever we raise. By about mid-senior year, if I feel like the company has gotten a place internally where we’ve hit that milestone—where we’re no longer to able to make money under a sponsored name—we’re going to try and file the paperwork to get the 501-C3, and become a completely self-owned business.
As our readers are not unlike yourself, being Juniors undergoing a difficult year during difficult times, do you have any advice or words of wisdom for motivation? I know I’ve struggled with motivating myself to get things done, even when I know it’s something that can help me progress as a person.
The biggest piece of advice I can give is honestly just to go for it. Just do it. When you really think about it, most times people stop themselves from doing something rather than something else stopping them because they’re worried about what could happen. The worst that could happen is that you make a mistake, it doesn’t work out, you learn from it and try again. One of the biggest things I’ve learned with C4C is that it’s really about trial and error. Some projects are going to be amazing and some aren’t, and I think there’s something beautiful about that. Continuing to try and try and try for something might feel discouraging, and you might not even get exactly where you want, but you can gain these things along the way that you didn’t even mean to. I think kids, especially people our age, are afraid of taking risks and stepping into that leadership role because they’re worried it won’t work out, but going into something with that mindset is always going to hold you back. Having a solid mindset and work ethic will go miles, because you can bet the work is going to be hard, but it’s just so fulfilling.
I’ve been a teacher at C4C since around it’s conception, and I can say that it’s definitely been one of the most incredible and rewarding experiences I’ve taken from LaGuardia. To join something that I have a passion for, and to teach the arts to other kids is just breathtaking; it’s given me more perspective than I could’ve realized. I’ll be honest: one of the main reasons I joined was because I was scraping together events that I could put on my college resume. But, what I didn’t realize was that I'd be teaching classes almost a year later. If there’s something I hope you take away from this interview: it's just a leap of faith. I struggle with anxiety and being productive in general—hell, sometimes something as simple as putting clothes away gets to me— but at the end of the day taking that first step is always the catalyst for something greater. I hope that whatever problems you may encounter, whatever issue or irritation you face, remember that there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, you just have to try and get to it.
That’s all it is. A leap of faith.