Josh Groban Reveals How the Kids in His Find Your Life Foundation Have Changed His Life: 'the Greatest Gift' (Exclusive)

Josh Groban’s mission is to keep art education prevalent in schools — which is why he launched the Find Your Light Foundation, originally called the Josh Groban Foundation, in 2005.

On Tuesday, October 29, Groban will perform his annual Find Your Light Benefit concert for arts education at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Before the charity benefit, Groban spoke with PEOPLE and reflected on the foundation’s growth — and how it’s not only changing the lives of children across the country, but his own as well.

“The greatest gift of working with students or teaching is how much it enriches you,” Groban, 43, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “You think you’re going into the environment as someone who has experience and knowledge, and you’re here to pass that knowledge on to other people. But the secret is that you actually get just as much, if not more, from these kids.”

He continues, “As someone who has been in this business since I was 17, I am constantly reminded to stay where the light is in my life.”

Josh Groban.

Courtesy of Find Your Light Foundation

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Working with children has also taught Groban to stay “where the real intentions are” when it’s easy to “get sidetracked by different pressures and different vulnerabilities.”

“When you see the pure inspiration and the light behind the eyes of these young kids and what they do and the pure joy of self-expression when they find that instrument or that stage or that paintbrush, it’s a daily reminder for me to always go towards that same joy and that same place within myself , not only in art, but in life in general,” says the “You’re Still You” singer.

Looking back on the program’s trajectory, which began with a jumbo check presented to him by fans at a concert in 2005, Groban is elated to see the difference the foundation has made so far.

Josh Groban.

Courtesy of Find Your Light Foundation

“When you first visit one of those programs … and then you see at that particular school [that] grades start to go up and someone with a learning disability suddenly starts getting better grades or someone with a behavior problem suddenly starts making tons of friends, it becomes the best kind of addiction,” Groban shares.

He continues, “So when you see other people start to understand your mission and then get on board with it, whether it’s friends in the arts, whether it’s donors who want to put their money where their mouth is and say, ‘Hey, we see what’s going on’ — people are realizing that the stigma like, ‘Oh, it’s just the drummer or the macaroni necklaces,’ or whatever it is, is actually scientifically saving children’s lives, as it happened to me.”

Growing up, Groban received this support from his choir teacher in the seventh grade, who “pulled me out from behind” and “recognized that I was a shy child.”

Josh Groban.

Courtesy of Find Your Light Foundation

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“It was hard for me because junior high school is shit,” he recalls. “And so the teacher pulls me out and says, ‘Hey, I’m going to give you a solo and that’s an assignment. This is for you to learn’ — I would never do that for myself. And he did it with love, and singing that song that night probably gave me a foundation of confidence to keep going for a long time.”

Groban considers himself “one of the lucky ones” and is grateful for access to art programs at school. It wasn’t until later in life that he realized they were usually the first to get cut due to budget issues — and he does everything he can to prevent that.

Now, as he prepares for his biggest charity concert yet, he is proud of the many years it took him to “build this”.

Josh Groban.

Josh Groban at Find Your Light Foundation

Guests at this year’s sold-out concert include JoJo, Sara Bareilles, Misty Copeland, Lin-Manuel Miranda, India Carney, Everett Bradley, Tituss Burgess, Renée Fleming, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Angel Blue and Matthew Whitaker.

“This is our chance; this is our time. Every year we put on an event and it’s our only moment to invite people into a live room where we can share our message, share our purpose, raise valuable funds for these programs,” says Groban. , who will appear in Little Big Town’s Christmas at the Opry special on NBC in December. “This is our night to celebrate.”

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Source: HIS Education