Jul 20, 2021

Miami Teen Brings Tikkun Olam to Life

A hearty of Mazal Tov to Daniel Solomon for winning a 2021 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award for his commitment to social justice and volunteer service. Legally blind since birth, 17-year-old Solomon found his passion in orchestral music. Faced with the underfunding of public school music programs, he founded Pinecrest City Music Project, Inc. (PCMP), a community-wide symphony that fosters young musicians through a peer-to-peer program in Miami-Dade County public schools. “The community I have built around music is so important to me,” Solomon said. “I am honored to be able to bring the arts into schools and share music with more students.”

Solomon’s motivation stemmed from an acute awareness of the lack of support the arts receives in schools. In seventh grade, he walked into the orchestra supply closet to get rosin, an inexpensive necessity for instruments to produce sound. There was none and the other instruments were in disrepair. Taking the Jewish value of tikkun olam (repairing the world) to heart, Solomon focused on bringing musical arts programming to public school students.

PCMP offers group instruction, concerts and sensory-based arts exhibits for a diverse student population and advocates for arts education. It also established a female STEM music coding program in partnership with Georgia Tech University. The only youth-run partner to the Miami-Dade School Board, PCMP has grown to serve 502 students with eight weekly programs at six campuses. A strong mentorship system ensures the group will continue to be successful when Solomon, a Palmetto High School senior, graduates.

Solomon is an alumnus of the Miami Diller Teen Fellows, an immersive leadership program operated by the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE), a Federation subsidiary. Fellows are high school sophomores and juniors who participate in a 15-month thought-provoking education program that includes workshops, weekend retreats and a trip to Israel. “I am honored to continue my journey with Diller,” he said. “Tikkun olam and the value of giving back are ideas I believe in strongly.”

As part of the honor, Solomon received $36,000 to use to further his initiative or use toward his own education. Solomon is one of 15 teens nationwide to earn the distinction. “I have really enjoyed meeting the other award winners. We have programs over Zoom and learn about each other and our projects,” he said. “It is kind of like a think tank for community service.”