On Friday, January 29, 2010, Jason and Miami Heat DJ, DJ Irie, launched the first official class of “Irie’s DJ Spiniversity” Powered by the Scratch DJ Academy, a 15-week after-school program designed to teach the art and business of disc jockeying to students enrolled in the Jason Taylor Reading Room.  It’s safe to say that the program started off with a bang as Jason and DJ Irie visited the Reading Room to kick things off and get in on the action.

 “This program is providing an amazing opportunity for our Reading Room kids to maximize that critical time of the day in a positive, creative outlet,” said Taylor. “We're incredibly lucky to have one of the country's most dynamic DJs and individuals right here in our own backyard, and I'm thrilled to be collaborating on this project with him!”

During the first class, the kids received a lesson in the history and application of disc jockeying and music, got some hands-on experience working with the turn tables, and even got to participate in a DJ battle and choose the very own DJ names.

As he does everywhere he spins, Irie took charge of the room from the moment he walked in.  He explained his inspiration behind the program and what he hopes the kids will take away from it.  He then gave a brief sample of his legendary skills, tried to teach JT to spin, brought some of the students to their feet, assisted a few in the group who needed help coming up with a new DJ name and even threw in a bonus by announcing that the student DJ that makes the most progress by the end of the 15 weeks will join him as a guest DJ for a Miami Heat game.  Clearly he was excited about the new program.

“The Irie DJ Spiniversity is one of the greatest projects of my career,” said DJ Irie. “Being a performing DJ has afforded me a wonderful and fulfilling life and to be able to spearhead an establishment for our youth to learn the art and the business is the absolute best. I expect to see some great talent come out of the Irie DJ Spiniversity.”

The program, which is offered to the Reading Room kids free of charge and is taught by instructors from Scratch DJ Academy of Miami, the world’s first DJ school, is the brainchild of Taylor and Irie. The two created this program with the hope that it would offer kids an opportunity to take advantage of their love for music while applying educational skills in the process. If the first class is any indication of their vision, the program is sure to be a success.