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Carol Singh, a first-grader at Mott Haven Academy Charter School in the Bronx, wants to become a singer. Thanks to a special music program run by her teacher Nefertiti Jones, Singh can practice her singing every week.

"I fell instantly in love with music, and it was similar to this, I guess. It was like singing and dancing," says Jones.

Jones grew up in Manhattan's Alphabet City, a neighborhood that was once a far cry from the trendy destination it has become.

"It was definitely a really rough neighborhood. Really, really rough," says Jones.

She began singing at age eight, and with the support and encouragement of friends and family she was able to pursue a career as a musician.

Last year, Jones started Gibson Kids Rock, an organization that brings music to schools like the Haven Academy.

"Even though we didn't have a lot of money, I was exposed to a lot of different things and I want these kids exposed to a lot of different things," says Jones. "So what if you don't have a lot of money? You should still be able to take music."

Jones recruited two other musicians to volunteer every Thursday afterschool at the academy. The school, in partnership with the New York Foundling, was designed to meet the needs of children in foster care, or who come from a background of abuse or neglect.

"All of them are showing a lot of progress," says Principal Jessica Nauiokas of Mott Haven Academy. "They're building their reading skills, they're building their confidence, they're building their friendship skills and the way they work with each other and with team members, and the way they interact with adults."

Jones got Gibson Guitars to donate nine instruments and amplifiers to the program, along with their recording space so the students could record an original song.

This past week, the children performed with Jones and her band at the legendary Bitter End in Greenwich Village.

First-grader Adrian Acosta, who thinks Jones is "a nice singer [who] really knows how to vocalize," believes the program has helped him find his calling.

"Maybe a rock star, because I did a lot of famous things like record a CD. I sang for an entire crowd," says Acosta.

"I wanted to kind of even the playing field," says Jones. "My life was kind of changed because of music and I was lucky."

So for leveling the playing field with music for kids at the Mott Haven Academy, Nefertiti Jones is the latest New Yorker of the Week.

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