Visiting elementary through high schools, Brooke communicates with the children and shares her strong personal messages: "Believe in your dreams," "Stay off all drugs," and "The Golden Rule -- always do what you know is right," among others.  She is very passionate about this program, and is committed to helping kids and encouraging them to achieve their goals.

The children enjoy interacting with Brooke and love asking questions ranging from "How did you become a singer?" to "What kind or car do you drive?" and everything in between.  Their questions provide an opportunity for Brooke to share her experiences and positive message, including information about goals and responsibility.  The feedback from her schools visits has been very positive, with both the students and staff finding the shows to be enjoyable, positive and productive.

If you're a parent, teacher or school administrator and would like to find out more about Brooke's school visits or to book her for an assembly or evening concert, call or e-mail Brooke.

The following article appeared in the Johnson County Sun newspaper, Friday October 26, 2001, during Brooke's fall tour in the Midwest.

Successful singer, songwriter returns home

By Michael D. Smith, Sun Entertainment Editor

You may have heard her songs featured on such TV shows as "Dawson's Creek," "Ed" and "Charmed." On Nov. 2 and 3, you will be able to, or have had the chance to hear singer/songwriter Brooke Ramel, a Shawnee Mission South graduate, perform live at the Westport Coffee House, 4010 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Mo.

Ramel, who grew up in Leawood but now lives in L.A., is looking forward to the release of her fourth independent album "Be" in early December.

She said that if you "took Jewel and Britney Spears and drew a line right down the middle" you would have her musical style.

"It's folk/pop music," she added. "It's like Shawn Colvin but more pop. Or like Jewel but more upbeat. My music is not real edgy and it's not urban. It's more of a mainstream pop, wholesome sound. My songs have really positive messages."

Upon her return to Kansas, Ramel, with a Susanna Hoffs-like singing voice, will be bringing her messages to 10 different Kansas schools she plans on visiting.

"I'll be talking to kids about staying off drugs and believing in their dreams," she explained. "During the week I'll be working with kids at the schools and on the weekends I'm going to play in the community. I encourage these kids to be creative because we all are creative. I completely believe that."

Ramel's path to becoming a singer/songwriter began when she was a young kid herself.

"There was a ukulele that my mom had in the house and I used to play with it like a toy. My parents knew how to play it and they showed me the chords. This was when I was four. I was so in love with it. So for my seventh birthday, I asked for a baritone ukulele but instead they got me a small guitar. I was slightly disappointed ...but I got over it. They got me guitar lessons and I immediately picked it up."

Ramel recalled that she always wanted to be a musician but her parents raised her to get a college education first. Accordingly, she studied international relations at Stanford University, however, as soon as she graduated, Ramel started looking for a way to get into show business.

"It was in 1995 that I decided that I was going to focus only on music because when I first came out here (L.A.) I was doing some acting. I knew that music was my number one joy and passion in life. So I decided to go about music like an Olympic athlete and just train. I would go every day to get any gig I could. I started doing six and seven gigs a week."

While she has opened up for acts like Colvin, Sophie B. Hawkins and Vonda Shepard, Ramel continues to remain an independent.

"In today's world, I decided to have a career with or without a major label because it's possible," she said, noting that her three albums have sold almost 20,000 copies so far. "That's nothing compared to Britney Spears but for an independent artist, 20,000 is a lot of records."

In the meantime, while she waits for the right offer to come along, Ramel plans on continuing what she's been doing: performing frequently, getting her songs on TV shows and touring.

"A dream is not something you sit and think about in your head," she said of her philosophy. "It's something you do something about. You have to take action. You can't let anybody sway you and you can't give up easily. I think 90 percent of it is attitude/commitment and 10 percent is talent.

"I know a lot of really talented people that are not working in this industry. I believe that there are many women who are much better singers than me that don't have albums or songs on TV. But I had a really good attitude."

For information about Ramel's Westport performance, call the Westport Coffee House at (816) 756-3222. For more information about Ramel herself, visit www.brookeramel.com.

©The Johnson County Sun 2001