JAMM: Juneau, Alaska Music Matters

The Best Brain Training

2012-01-10T20:36:00.000-09:00


How to Build a Better Learner, Scientific American, August 2011

Here's just another reason why Glacier Valley Elementary School provides violin instruction for all of its kindergartners and 1st graders. According to the August 2011 Scientific American article, "How to Build a Better Learner," playing an instrument is "the best brain training" you can give children to help with "language comprehension and promote cognitive skills: attention, working memory and self-regulation" (Stix, p. 57).

It's gratifying to know that even though JAMM is a unique program among most public schools, it is firmly grounded in research recognized by the scientific community, dispelling the notion that music is an "extra" or just fluff. Instead, music serves as a foundation for developing school readiness skills, social-emotional learning and working memory.

While attending a gathering of the 2011 Teachers of the Year in Princeton, I had the honor of hearing Richard Varn speak. He is the Distinguished Presidential Appointee for Educational Testing Serivce (ETS) in the Center for Advanced Technologies and Neuroscience. He shared new developments in neuroscience and reiterated the same message highlighted in the Scientific American article for helping children succeed in school and life: put an instrument in a child's hand and do it early.

Mr. Varn particularly referenced the work of Dr. Nina Kraus of Northwestern University. Her work is referenced in the Scientific American article, "How to Build a Better Learner" and can be downloaded from her Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory website under the heading Music in the News. Also, the slideshow she has posted under Neural Encoding of Music summarizes some of her findings in a friendlier format.

Other experts are sharing similar insights. Samuel Abrams, a national expert on why schools in Finland are so successful and scholar at Columbia University, had this to say when asked by a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News how he would improve Alaskan schools. His first recommendation: "integrate more arts and crafts to make school more enticing, to give math and science more concrete meaning, and to foster greater collaboration among students."

His second recommendation: "integrate more physical education and more time between subjects for play." Here is the link to the entire article, Education expert offers views after visiting Alaska schools.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2011/12/25/2233759/education-expert-offers-views.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2011/12/25/2233759/education-expert-offers-views.html#storylink=cp

Thank you, Glacier Valley and the Juneau Community, for providing our students music - "the best brain training" - as a core part of their public education. What would cost $3,150 per school year per child in private lessons is accessible to all students free of charge.

Parents, Students & Teachers Share Thoughts on JAMM

2012-01-03T17:04:00.000-09:00

While the Abreu Fellows were here for their internship, they helped complete a very important project: they collected testimony from JAMM students, parents and staff. This video is a result from the hours of interviews that Stephanie Hsu and Julie Davis conducted. Thank you, parents and teachers, for finding time in your busy schedules to meet with them.

Stephanie and Julie collected so many powerful and positive messages from families and teachers that we could not possibly include all of them in this short video. Many parents talked about the changes in focus and discipline that they've seen in their children since the start of the program. Others shared how their children feel proud, talk about violin at home all of the time, and like to teach or perform for their families. The performances and program have helped connect parents with the school. For the students, "Happy" was a common response.

Here is the video I put together to represent their voices:

Kaye Peters, one of Glacier Valley's kindergarten teachers wrote this:

"Thank you for bringing this incredible experience to GV. The violin program has definitely made a positive impact on my kindergarten students. I see such wonder and pride in their faces as they handle their violins. I hear from many of my parents that their children talk endlessly about the program and are so excited to share their experiences. Today one of my parents shared that her daughter carries her violin everywhere with her, and "teaches" anyone who will listen about how to appropriately take care of it. The love and pride that our students have for music carries over into their school work as well. It helps build confidence and great listening skills! Again, thank you for all of your work and for caring so much about our children."

Thank you, Glacier Valley and the Juneau community, for supporting JAMM. Together, we are making a difference!

JAMM Expands with Sustainability in Mind

2011-12-15T14:05:00.001-09:00

Kiara Ziengenfuss will continue to have violin instruction as JAMM expands to 1st grade

This year, JAMM expanded it programming to include all kindergartners and 1st graders. 120 students will receive 90 min/wk of violin instruction, during the school day.

JAMM is an in-school model for a reason. As a school music teacher, I hoped to promote a model that utilizes existing resources, addresses the needs of public schools, provides access to all students at an early age and is sustainable over time. Consider these figures:

JAMM's 1st year: the cost for one kindergarten student to receiver 90 min/wk of violin instruction was $213 for the school year.
JAMM's 2nd year: the cost dropped to $60 per kindergartner for the same delivery of instruction. $60 per student for the entire school year! That's sustainable.

JAMM kindergartners and 1st graders at Glacier Valley Elementary School

This is how JAMM does it:

Utilizes existing school personnel: music teacher and kindergarten teacher help with instruction, including paraeducators assigned to work with students with special needs.
Professional development is embedded: Suzuki instructor, Mr. Xia, teams alongside music and classroom teachers. Each provides a different strength while learning from one another. The next year, Mr. Xia moves up with the 1st grade classes, while music and classroom teachers deliver the kindergarten program on their own with help from a volunteer or intern. This approach also frees up Mr. Xia so that he can help other schools start-up similar programs.
Students double, not instruments: Even though the number of students grew from 60 to 120 in one year, instruments are still be shared among the six 1st grade and kindergarten classes during the school day.
Effective use of time: children at this young age can tire out early. By providing violin instruction as part of their school day, students are more alert, attentive and benefit from having their music teacher and classroom teacher present to manage the class, provide developmentally appropriate instruction and maintain consistent routines. Behavior issues are minimal so that when JAMM moves to an after-school program for 2nd graders, behavior expectations and consistent school culture are already in place.

Provides access for all students: An after-school program still might not reach every student. JAMM ensures that all kindergartners and 1st graders receive instrumental instruction as part of their school day for those first two years at Glacier Valley.
Expands the role of the music teacher who not only provides general music classes, but also instrumental music classes in the primary grades that help school readiness skills, like focus, discipline, teamwork and impulse control.
Increases the number of advocates: JAMM is more visible because it occurs during the school day, allowing teachers and other school staff see its success in action.
Glacier Valley Parent Group: is our sponsoring organization with a phenomenal parent volunteer, Katrina Laneville, who helps with finances.

Kindergarten teacher, Kaye Peters, models alongside her students, just like the other Glacier Valley teachers photographed above

JAMM's in-school model is spreading! At the local level, Riverbend Elementary School, another Title I school in the Juneau School District, plans to start a violin program for their kindergartners next year. And nationally, El Sistema Colorado is basing its first program at Garden Place Elementary School in Denver on JAMM's in-school model. I traveled there in November to provide teacher training and share the work that we've been doing here in Juneau.

Glacier Valley's Tlingit Dance and Drum Group

2011-12-13T18:49:00.000-09:00

Proud members of Glacier Valley's Tlingit Dance and Drum Group

Last week, over seventy Glacier Valley students in 1st through 5th grades proudly entered the gymnasium to share with the school community what they've been learning in Tlingit Dance and Drum Group. Thanks to funding from the Association of Alaska School Board's Initiative for Community Engagement (Alaska ICE) and the Juneau School District At-Risk Music grant, Glacier Valley teachers were able to sponsor this after-school group for an hour, each week.

The Tlingit Dance and Drum group is the newest addition to JAMM whose mission is to "develop neighborhood programs that create community pride, partnership and active participation." JAMM also supports the growth of culturally relevant music and is thrilled that Hans Chester and Glenda Lindley can share their Alaska Native heritage as the club's sponsors. As the number of students in the club grew, Janalynn Ferguson jumped in to help.

These Glacier Valley teachers have kindly written a summary sharing the club's semester highlights:

The original plan was to build a dance group at Glacier Valley of about 25 or so students; two months later we have 72 members who meet every Tuesday after school to drum, (sing) and dance. These students feel content to be in a place that is familiar, doing something they love to do, to the beat of the drum. The drum being a source of power that draws students, in a nurturing way.

Our members are currently putting together their lineage so that the songs we sing represent the member's rightful ownership. Students are learning who they are by looking at where they came from.

Starting in January, we plan to meet twice a week and begin to put together a more formal performance presentation. Members will learn how to introduce themselves, the songs they sing in Tlingit, as well as the history of the songs we are using. We will also look at regalia needs and figure out how to fill the gaps for all members.

On January 14th, 9:00 - 1:00 p.m., we have invited the dance group families and Glacier Valley staff to help make 25 drums for the dance group and Glacier Valley. This is a tall order for members so we are counting on family, friends and community to get the drums made.

The Tlingit Drum and Dance group has already grown past our initial expectation! That suggests an opportunity to recognize the need and to provide for a larger membership. How exciting.

Hans Chester, Glenda Lindley, and Janalynn Ferguson

More members prepare for their entrance into the Glacier Valley gym

JAMM's Winter Concert: Make Room for 120 Young Musicians

2011-11-21T09:39:00.000-09:00

Mr. Xia, JAMM's violin instructor, leads his ever-growing orchestra (Photo: Michael Penn, Juneau Empire)

A sea of blue JAMM t-shirts filled the Glacier Valley Elementary School gymnasium, as 120 kindergarten and 1st grade students stood proudly, ready to share with families and friends what they've learned. One year ago, the first kindergarten class of JAMM violinists graduated from their Paper Violins. It was an exciting moment for these young musicians because this performance represented a rite of passage: one that acknowledged them as responsible and skilled violinists ready to play the real violin.

Now, as 1st graders, they not only had the thrill of performing in front of a packed audience, but also the honor of giving the next class of kindergartners a glimpse of where they might be a year from now.

Here are highlights from their two performances:

JAMM would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their generous support of this fledgling program. In just over a year's time, you have ensured that all kindergarten and 1st grade students receive access to quality musical instruction during school hours. From the entire Glacier Valley community, thank you!

Association of Alaska School Boards

Great Blue Heron Fund

Greg Burger and Mary DeSmet

Classics for Kids

Douglas-Dornan Foundation

Glacier Valley Parent Group

Juneau Community Foundation

Juneau School District

Stan and Amy Lujan

Kim Poole

Rasmuson Foundation

What About Those Test Scores?

2011-11-16T09:51:00.000-09:00

Kindergartners proudly sing "This is My Violin"

The arts are often difficult to quantify. When Glacier Valley first launched JAMM, we knew we were in a unique position.

JAMM takes place during school hours, which eliminates variables connected with after-school programs or charter schools whose families may be self-selecting based on interest, transportation, etc.
ALL kindergartners receive violin instruction, which solves the challenge of establishing a random sample.
Glacier Valley is a Title I, which means many of our children are eligible for free and reduced lunch, identifying them as at-risk

Should make for a solid research study, right? Not exactly. In order to establish a causal link between instrumental music and academic success, JAMM would need to identify a control group among its kindergartners. This would mean denying some of our students free violin instruction, something JAMM would not consider.

What we could do is establish a correlational link by comparing the kindergartners fall and spring MAP (Measurement of Academic Success). By doing so, we'd also be comparing their scores before and after receiving eight months of violin instruction.

What were the results? In the words of Phil Loseby, the Juneau School District's Assessment Coordinator, "Significant!"

Here are the results in graph form:


GV Kindergartners' Fall Reading Scores: No Violin Instruction

GV Kindergartners' Winter Reading Scores: 5 months of Violin Instruction

GV Kindergartners' Spring Reading Scores: 8 months of Violin Instruction

Here are their year-end scores in math:

GV Kindergartners' Spring Math Scores

These scores certainly caught the attention of the school district! Even though JAMM can't make a causal link between music and academic success, it mirrors the ever-growing body of research that can.

Glacier Valley continues to work with the school district to identify ways to measure JAMM's success. In the eyes of the participating teachers, students, parents and sponsors; JAMM's success is apparent and meeting its goals of community pride, parental involvement and student engagement.

Abreu Fellows Intern at JAMM

2011-11-15T21:31:00.000-09:00

This year, three of the ten Abreu Fellows from the Class of 2011 chose JAMM for their internship. Alsyia Lee and Stephanie Hsu are here for three weeks and Julie Davis, for four. These talented women wanted to extend the teacher training experience I provided in Boston - observing the first, team-teaching the second and teaching on their own while I supported them on the sidelines, observing and filming.

JAMM is the ideal place for this kind of embedded professional development. It's a place where teachers can observe all age-ranges, teach the same lesson to several classes with the opportunity to reflect and refine each time and participate in before, during and after-school music programs. The fellows' internship also coincided with the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council teaching artist series, which all three were able to attend. Sessions focused on classroom management, brain theory, curriculum standards and dynamic lesson planning.

Some of the effective teaching practices they applied included:

developing an attention-getting hook
using positive language
making transitions fluid and connected to the lesson
presenting information in manageable chunks
building a lesson that breathes in and out
practicing a credible body and voice
creating episodes using location, emotion, movement and relevance
providing choices for students
using enforceable statements
giving consequences with empathy
experience first, intellectualize later

JAMM and Juneau have benefited greatly from having Alysia, Stephanie and Julie here. Alysia is a vocalists who started her own non-profti; Stephani taught at an alternative high school in NYC and plays viola; and Julie holds a music education degree from Northwestern, during which she taught in an after-school strings program, the YOURS project. During their stay here, Julie and Stephanie played in the Juneau Symphony concert of Sweeney Todd. Alysia spent hours at the Juneau Public Library using the Foundation Research Center to identify grant-giving organizations for JAMM, and all of them choreographed a dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller for Glacier Valley's Harvest Carnival.

Every time I observe another teacher in action, I always come away from the experience a better one. Whether it was watching Alysia teach breathing exercises to the Morning Musicians, Julie encouraging partner activities in violin class (see photo above) or Stephanie inspiring students to create a soundscape from a painting, my teaching toolbox expanded.

Alysia sings "Frog in the Meadow" for Mrs. Peters' Kindergarten class using novelty to make repetition engaging

Thank you, Abreu Fellows, for making the journey to Juneau, working with JAMM and making us feel very much a part of a larger El Sistema network. Below is a video of Julie and Stephanie serenading Mrs. Peters' class during a very special moment: the first time the entire class held the real violin. In addition there are more photos documenting their time with us. Stephanie, we also appreciate you dedicating a blog entry about your experience here.

The Abreu Fellows' first week with JAMM observing our team-teaching model in action

Julie helps one of our Morning Musicians "pass off" on a piece for an upcoming concert

Stephanie joins Mrs. Steininger's kindergarten class for "This is My Violin"

Alysia explores creative movement with Mrs. Peters' class

Sweet Plantain Visit Glacier Valley

2011-10-30T10:12:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Vreeland's 1st grade class proudly stands with members of Sweet Plantain

Sweet Plantain, a string quartet that blends classical, jazz and Latin styles, visited Juneau as part of their Alaskan tour. While here, they gladly accepted an invitation to perform at Glacier Valley Elementary School before hopping on a plane to their next stop. This dynamic quartet supports music education in their hometown of New York City where they started a string ensemble program for a school in South Bronx. They designed curricula "to empower the students through musical forms representative of their community's cultural heritage, while at the same time exposing them to classic Western forms. Sound familiar? Yes, one of the members of this quartet is a product of Venezuela's El Sistema.

After performing for the entire student body, the quartet attended an impromptu performance by Mrs.Vreeland's 1st grade violin class in the music room. There we had a chance to ask the members questions and personally thank them for such an inspirational performance. But it was Sweet Plantain who thanked us for inspiring them. One member explained that in NYC cuts had been made to an instrumental program that he'd been involved with for years. Seeing a program like JAMM gave him hope.

Thank you, Sweet Plantain, for showing your commitment to music education wherever you travel. Thank you, Juneau Arts and Humanities Council for sponsoring them and making a performance at Glacier Valley possible.

JAMM Takes the Next Big Step: After-School Hours

2011-10-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

JAMM after-school club: 1st graders drum with buckets and tubanos

JAMM has been an in-school model until now. Thanks to Alaska ICE and Rasmuson Cultural Collaborations grants, first graders also can attend an after-school club, once a week for 2 hours beginning in October. 8-% of our first graders are enrolled, ready for general music instruction, violin lessons and bucket band!

First grade is a transition year, gradually moving its programming from an in-school model to after-school. Kindergartners have violin class during school hours and 2nd graders will hold class after-school when JAMM expands to 2nd grade next year.

A general music curriculum is part of JAMM's after-school club

This transition has intention. Its purpose is to maintain quality of instruction, consistent school culture, behavioral expectations, and developmentally appropriate practice (recognizing that these little ones get tired!)

It's also a transition year for JAMM's teaching model:

All 1st grade violin classes replace in-school general music time. This was a tough decision, but it was the only option for JAMM to ensure that all 1st graders received at least two years of a solid foundation in string pedagogy. This is one reason why the after-school club has a general music component.

1st grade teacher do not attend these violin sessions because it's their prep time. Instead, they've each schedule an additional 30 minutes during the week for their class to come to the music room and "show and tell" what they've been doing in violin. This way music and classroom teachers can continue to build connections across the curriculum.

The classroom teachers' absence allow the music teacher and teaching artist to command the classroom on their own before moving into daily after-school hours when their management skills will be most tested.

Diane Barnett, who has been assisting in both kindergarten and 1st grade violin classes and Amy Bibb, a recent MAT music graduate, will lead JAMM club. They are both indispensable to the program and JAMM is fortunate to have them! As the school music teacher, I will also be there to support and help maintain consistency between in-school and after-school expectations.

Amy Bib leads the 1st graders in a warm-up activity before drumming

Thank you, Association of Alaska School Boards, Rasmuson Foundation and the Alaska State Council on the Arts for helping JAMM take its next big step. Here is a short video clip of Abreu Fellow, Julie Davis, leading the club in a partnering activity to help students isolate one skill at a time: bowing or fingering. Thank you, Julie, for sharing so many technique games with our students!

My Wish for El Sistema-inspired Programs: Collaboration

2011-10-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

Rebecca Levi and Levi Comstock team-teaching at CLCS

Last week I shared my experiences working with the El Sistema Boston staff at Conservatory Lab Charter School and how powerful collaboration can be. Collaboration works. It's why all JAMM classes are team-taught.

If I could wish anything for a new initiative, it would be a team-teaching model, especially in those critical start-up years. Here's why:

Your weakness may be the other teacher's strength. Together you create better lessons, while learning from one another.
Together you build common language, consistent school culture and expectations. Students need to know the boundaries. If rules and expectations change each time students move to a new classroom, they'll spend their time trying to figure out the rules by testing them, instead of focusing on the music. This is often the cause of misbehavior. Team-teaching helps cut down on this chance of inconsistency among staff.
You are willing to take risks and try new strategies when you have support from another colleague.
You hold each other accountable for the success of the lesson by planning ahead together and establishing your roles.
You can reflect on lesson delivery more thoroughly when you have the benefit of two different perspectives.
You can have eyes in the back of your head! Your colleague can catch what you may have missed.
You can attend to misbehavior without having to disrupt the flow of the class. Your colleague can often prevent the issue by proximity and by attending to it early on.
You are modeling teamwork for your students, an important skill for them to see adults doing.

I'd like to thank the Glacier Valley and JAMM staff for investing in a team-teaching model. It takes trust, but no one teacher has all of the answers. By reaching out to colleagues and community members for inspiration and expertise, collaborative teaching will not only enliven and diversify instruction, but also remind you that you are never alone.

Mrs. Peters' class benefits from three teachers: Mrs. Peters, Mr. Xia & Miss Heagy

Nikki Shorts and Brandon Brack at YOLA at HOLA, where team-teaching is part of its culture

Meeting the Abreu Fellows Class of 2011

2011-10-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

Meeting the Abreu Fellows Class of 2011 at Longy School of Music

While back east for a Teacher of the Year event in Princeton and NYC, I had the honor of traveling to Boston to meet and provide teacher training for the 2011 class of Abreu Fellows. I did a similar training for the class of 2010. In four short days, I shared some of the most useful practices gathered over 17 years of teaching, modeled them in classrooms at the Conservatory Lab Charter School (CLCS) for the fellows to observe and debriefed afterward, focusing on what worked (and what didn't), why and how will this inform us for planning tomorrow's lesson.

In particular, I'd like to thank Levi Comstock, a strings teacher at CLCS for welcoming me into his classroom last year where I observed, team-taught and gave feedback. I visited his classroom again this year, as well as other El Sistema Boston staff at CLCS. Levi's attitude is one that makes for a great teacher. I saw this same open attitude modeled in nucleos throughout Venezuela. Feedback given one day was incorporated into practice the next. Levi did the same thing.

For example, last year Levi found it challenging to keep the attention of his students while explaining bow divisions. When we debriefed afterward, I shared some brain-compatible strategies and Waldorf principles that had worked for me.

One in particular is the use of story. In Teaching with the Brain in Mind, Eric Jensen describes factors that engage the mind: emotion, movement, relevance, novelty and pattern. A story contains all of them and makes for a very effective teaching strategy. As an example of using story to teach something technical or abstract, I shared with Levi my Fox story.

In pure Venezuelan style, Levi incorporated this feedback into his lesson the next day and created an incredible lesson. Here's the proof! Just watch the kids as Levi sings a song he composed, "All Aboard the Bow Express."

We both came away from the experience better teachers. Levi blogged about the lesson to share with others. Thank you, Levi.

There is a growing demand for trained teachers to teach in El Sistema initiatives all over the the country, all whom face a daunting task: manage a large group of young children with instruments in their hands, during after-school hours. This training in partnership with CLCS, New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music gave the Abreu Fellows a chance to see theory put into practice.

I'd like to thank Erik Holgrem, Director of the Abreu Fellows program, for inviting me to work with the Abreu Fellow classes these past two years. Through his leadership, teacher training is becoming an important component of the Abreu Fellows program. Thank you, Rebecca Levi, David Malek, and the entire CLCS staff for allowing your program to act as a lab where staff are encouraged to take risks and test new ideas in a safe and supportive environment.

JAMM's Short Documentary Film: Year One

2011-09-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

JAMM would like to thank the Association of Alaska School Boards (AASB) for their continued support and commitment to Alaska's youth. This short film produced by AASB in partnership with Lucid Reverie documents JAMM's successful first year.

In May of 2011, JAMM received $24,000 from the Alaska School Boards' Initiative for Community Engagement (Alaska ICE) to support and expand its violin program for the 2011-2012 school year. All 120 kindergartners and first graders will receive 90 minutes of violin instruction each week as part of their school day.

Alaska ICE is an initiative funded by the US Dept. of Education to provide Alaskans with information, tools and assistance to work together and engage in the shared responsibility of preparing Alaska's children. AASB supports the work of JAMM because it addresses the association's goals, all of which are aimed at increasing students success:

Investing in early learning and school readiness skill,
Developing social-emotional learning,
Improving school climate and student and family connections to school,
Engaging communities and parents, and
Providing access to quality programs for all children

Looking forward to another successful year and partnership!

TEDx Homer: Returning to TED Alaskan style

2011-09-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

Years ago, a colleague sent me the link to Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk: Schools Kill Creativity and I've been hooked on TED ever since. Little did I know that a few years later, I would be directly involved with TED - helping them realize the wish of 2009 TED Prize Winner, Dr. Abreu. This musician and economist wanted "to train fifty gifted young musicians, passionate for their art and social justice, and dedicated to develop El Sistema in the US and in other countries." The Abreu Fellowship was born. I was honored to serve in this fellowship's first class and created this blog to document the fellowship and the work that followed here in Juneau.

When I heard TED was holding a conference in Homer, Alaska, I wanted to be able to come full circle and share how a TED wish helped create an early childhood instrumental program for 120 kindergarten and 1st grade students in Alaska, called JAMM! Kat Haber, the TEDx Homer Coordinator, gladly accepted my request and helped with travel and lodging to get me there.

While in Homer, I had the delight and honor of staying in the home of Cherish McCallum, a private music teacher. Both she and Kat are remarkable women who contribute above and beyond this Southeast community.

Cherish donates JAMM's first cello

Here's just one example:

When Cherish gave me a tour of her studio, she pointed to a small quarter-size violin and cello that her teenage daughter and son played when they were young. "I've been looking for a home for these two instruments, where they'd give the same joy they gave my children. I'd like to donate these to your program, JAMM."

Thank you, Cherish.

Being involved in the TEDx Homer event was an incredible experience. I met passionate people who make things happen in their communities. My TED talk neared the end of the evening and I was nervous. But throughout, I kept reminding myself that this talk is my heartfelt "thank you" to the TED community and to all of the people who believe in the power of music and the right for all children to have access to it.

Thank you, Kat Haber, Aaron Suring, Bob Burns and Erin Hollowell, for helping me with my script and visuals. Congratulations on a successful event!

Speakers stand together on stage for the end the TEDx Homer event

Abreu Fellows Visit Juneau, Alaska Music Matters

2011-09-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

Abreu Fellows, Dan Berkowitz, Christine Witkowski and Alvaro Rodas, visit Juneau, Alaska Music Matters

Christine, Alvaro and Dan, who graduated with me in the first class of Abreu Fellows, made their first trip to the Great White North to visit me and see JAMM in action!

I had the honor of visiting their programs last year. At the Corona Youth Music Project in Queens, NY, Alvaro and his students shared their bucket band. And at YOLA at HOLA in Los Angeles, Dan and Christine gave me a glimpse of where our first graders might be in a year's time.

Even though the weather wouldn't cooperate, JAMM did not disappoint. The Abreu Fellows' trip was timed perfectly to coincide with Glacier Valley's paper violin-making night for kindergarten families. Both HOLA and Corona Youth Music Project include paper violin as a pedagogical step for students to develop respect, care and discipline for the instrument while giving them time to safely practice motor skills needed to play the real instruments.

Paper Violin Night at Glacier Valley Elementary School

Alvaro adapted JAMM's paper violin process to make his violins in Corona, and Christine employed the creative skills of an HOLA staff artist to design theirs. Dan included both processes in a document called the Paper Violin Cookbook: Recipes for Learning from Juneau, Alaska Music Matters and Youth Orchestra at Heart of LA. The cookbook is available on the Los Angeles Philharmonic YOLA Resource webpage so that initiatives all over the world can learn from our experiences.

The Abreu Fellows were a huge help that night, preparing materials, documenting the evening, translating for Spanish-speaking families and celebrating with our community the fact that we are part of a larger network. They also shared their perspective with a Juneau Empire reporter who wrote an article, Paper Violins Reach Worldwide.

An in usual Glacier Valley fashion, staff cam out in full force to help both nights. We also had community volunteers join in the fun: former mayor, Sally Smith; and school board members, Kim Pool and Sally Sadler, built extra violins for violins for families who couldn't make it. Thank you everyone for your support.

Alvaro teachers Bucket Band to Mr. Wyatt's 3rd grade class

The kindergartners weren't the only ones who benefited from the Abreu Fellows' visit that week. Alvaro taught bucket band to the 3rd graders. Christine and Dan performed duets for several classes and gave after-school lessons for two of our 5th grade brass students. In between, the Abreu Fellows observed our 1st grade violin classes, 2nd grade folk dancing and 4th & 5th grade Humanities class where they joined our students for the Stick dance - a dance that has traveled to El Sitema programs in Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Scotland and Venezuela. Thank you, Michelle Quigg of World Music Drumming, for teaching this dance to me. Your gift has spread to hundreds of kids!

Christine and Dan perform duets for Glacier Valley classes

Aivine, Amy Bibb, Vaipuna, Dan & Christine rehearse after-school

Before Christine, Dan and Alvaro left, they experienced being tourists and saw why Juneau is such and incredible place to live. Thank you, friends, for visiting JAMM and Juneau, my home!

Visiting Mendenhall Glacier, the namesake of Glacier Valley Elementary School

Swapping Fish Tales from Alaska to Maine

2011-09-01T16:42:00.000-08:00

4th grader, Aivine Soakai, plays bass for the play, Dear Fish

Through a Kennedy Center Partners in Education Grant, Glacier Valley students partnered with Thunder Mountain High School and Deer Isle School in Maine to explore the fishing cultures of both communities using integrated technology, visual and performing arts. Research collected from trips out in the field and interviews with local fishermen formed the basis for a playwright performed by both elementary and high school students in April 2011.

Music was very much a part of this performance including traditional sea shanties and classic rock songs to reflect the contemporary life of a fisherman. Glacier Valley's own Rock Band played live for both performances here in Juneau, while many of their classmates took to the stage to act and sing alongside high school students. This collaborative project hopefully will be the first of many to connect our elementary school students with its neighboring high school. So far, the arts have proven to be a powerful way to make it happen.

Teaching Theatre Journal featured Dear Fish on the front cover of its 2011 summer issue. The performance in April was well-received by both coastal communities. Audience comments included, "I am an Alaskan fisherman. It made me feel good to be recognized." Another wrote, "The diversity of cutlrues, ages, and abilities brings tears to my eyes."

Thank you, Annie Calkins, Dave Hunsaker, Ryan Conarro, and the entire Glacier Valley, Thunder Mountain and Juneau fishing communities. This project helped both schools connect local issues to a more global perspective through the arts and technology. Students learned that even though they live on different coasts, they face similar issues, struggles, and celebrations and were able to personally express their learning through all of the arts.

We're proud of our Glacier Valley kids ...

Juneau Jazz & Classics and Community Day

2011-05-26T10:41:00.000-08:00

Juneau Jazz & Classics brings Awadagin Pratt to JAMM

Juneau Jazz & Classics is celebrating its 25th year of "encouraging the appreciation of jazz, classical and blues music among people of all ages." Every May for two weeks, this incredible organization under the leadership of Linda Rosenthal, brings jazz and classical musicians from all over the country to perform in Juneau. Many of these artists visit schools to perform concerts, coach young musicians and share their enthusiasm for music.

This year, Glacier Valley was honored to host two Jazz & Classics artists: The Jasper Quartet and Awadagin Pratt. Both were able to work with our kindergarten violinists. They encouraged musicality, proper technique and performed right alongside them. What made Awadagin's visit so special was that he specifically asked to work with the "music teacher in Juneau with the El Sistema nucleo." For the Juneau community, his request confirmed that JAMM is part of a recognized national network and that the work its doing is supported by others thousands of miles away. Thank you, Awadagin. Your gentle spirit and ability to connect with our kids made your visit a memorable one!


JAMM performs for Community Day at the University of Alaska Southeast

JAMM also gave Glacier Valley its first opportunity to participate in Juneau Jazz & Classics' Community Day. This free all-day event held on the campus of the University of Alaska Southeast offers food, educational programs and musical performances. Our kindergartners and 4th & 5th grade Morning Musicians performed in the beautiful Egan Library, which made our students' first visit to this college campus a welcoming one. Again, we had an amazing turn-out by Glacier Valley families whom stayed after the concert to enjoy the rest of the festivities with their kids.

Here's a short clip of them playing E String Concerto and Variations on Boil Them Cabbage Down.

Thank you, Juneau Jazz & Classics, for bringing the community into the school and the school into the community. Happy 25th Birthday!

HeArt & Sole Ballroom Program Highlighted in DC

2011-05-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

While traveling to Washington, DC, for the National Teacher of the Year event, I had the opportunity to meet with folks from the US Department of Education. They wanted to hear from teachers about how best to engage students, families, community and strengthen professional development for teachers.

I was excited to share Glacier Valley's HeART & Sole Ballroom program, where P.E. and music teachers collaborate with librarian and counselor to offer all 3rd through 5th grade students two sessions/week of ballroom dancing under the leadership of Pat Belec, Juneau dance instructor. This 8-week residency culminates in a performance of all 200 students who showcase their moves for the community and school. Dance steps include meringe, swing, tango, fox trot and electric slide. Twenty-four of them are selected through an audition process to perform two weeks later for the Juneau Douglas High School Dance Team Show.

Here's the link to the US Department of Education's blog posting of our program: Waltzing Students to Fitness, Health and Rhythm.

If you'd like to see them in action, the video of their performance, earning a standing ovation, is posted above.

Delivering Paper Violins to Alaskan Senators in DC

2011-05-05T13:32:00.000-08:00


National Teacher of the Year Event at the White House with President Obama

While waiting in line to meet the President of the United States, I wondered how much time I'd have to speak with him and what I would say. For security reasons, the state teachers of the year could not carry anything with them when they entered the Oval Office for their photo with President Obama. But if I could, I knew exactly what I'd present: a paper violin carefully handmade by parents and students of our JAMM program. It would be the perfect segue into a conversation about the importance of arts education. In the few seconds that I had to shake the President's hand, I told him what an honor it was to meet him and to thank him personally for making children a national priority. He thanked me for traveling such a long way.

Here is President Obama's address in the Rose Garden before announcing Michelle Shearer as the 2011 National Teacher of the Year. Michelle represents teachers' voices so well and tackles tough questions with intelligence, heart and determination.

I did get to spend a short time with Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and thanked him for keeping the arts on the national education agenda. With so much focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), I encouraged him to include the arts as an equally important discipline. Instead of STEM, advocate for STEAM! He shared this wasn't an easy task, but is still trying.

I am proud to say that both Alaskan Senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski publicly support arts education. They made time in their schedules to meet with me to hear about the arts initiatives happening at Glacier Valley Elementary School and about the effects these programs are having on our children socially, emotionally and academically. Thank you both for your dedication and commitment to Alaska's children. It was an honor to meet both of you!

Senator Mark Begich

Senator Lisa Murkowski

JAMM Performs for the Alaska Folk Festival

2011-04-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

Glacier Valley Elementary School is located in "the Valley," which is only ten miles away from downtown Juneau. But distance is relative and in a community with only 40 miles of road, ten miles can seem like worlds apart. As the music teacher at Glacier Valley, I learned early on that very few of our students took advantage of the Alaska Folk Festival. This music festival showcases local and national musicians throughout the week at no cost, but ... it's located downtown.

This year, JAMM changed that when it was accepted as a musical act to perform for the festival's family concert. Both violin and guitar club program collaborated for this concert with 4th & 5th grade guitarists learning the chords to accompany the kindergartners' violin pieces. With buses available to transport musicians and their families to the event, we had an incredible turn-out!

As we crammed onto the mainstage, I shared with the audience JAMM's hope to have 120 violinists performing here at this time next year. You should have heard the applause!

Here is a short clip of our students playing a folk festival favorite - Boil Them Cabbage Down. I also included our exit song, which I learned from James Hill, one of thes author of Ukulele in the Classroom. He played the ukulele at this year's NAMM conference in Anaheim. The whole audience joined in and then he added When the Saints Go Marching In as a partner song. Here are the lyrics:

Up above my head,
There's music in the air.
Up above my head,
There's music in the air.
Up above my head,
There's music in the air.
I really do believe,
It's aheadin' somewhere.

Thank you, Glacier Valley community for supporting this event. Music brings people together and on this day you helped bridge two communities. "I really do believe we're a-headin' somewhere."

JAMM performs with the Glacier Valley Guitar Club at the 2011 Alaska Folk Festival (photo: Klas Stolpe, Juneau Empire)

Juneau Student Symphony Collaborative Concert

2011-03-25T11:53:00.000-08:00

Juneau, Alaska Music Matters and Juneau Student Symphony perform "Life of the Child"

While studying in Boston, Venezuela and Scotland for the Abreu Fellowship, I witnessed professional orchestra members playing alongside the youth of their communities as a way to help inspire, play authentic music together and demonstrate to their communities that the orchestra is invested in music education. One powerful example was Gustavo Dudamel's decision to open the LA Phil's season at the Hollywood Bowl with YOLA (Youth Orchestras of Los Angeles) kids playing alongside LA Phil orchestra members. It was very inspiring both for the musicians, both young and old, and a packed crowd of new audience members.

I hope to see Juneau foster the same kind of mentorship: kindergarten violinists performing with middle/high school students and members of the Juneau Symphony so that they can experience in one concert the trajectory of their musical life from age five to adulthood.

Rick Trostel, conductor of the Juneau Student Symphony, took that first step by inviting JAMM to perform in the symphony's spring concert. Rick composed a piece specifically for this collaborative event called The Life of the Child. Our young musicians echoed the simple melody of the orchestra to represent musically how children learn from their parents. We played to a packed house bringing new audience members to both organizations.

I want to thank Rick Trostel for seeing the long term opportunity that our young JAMM violinists and their families can bring to the Juneau Student and Juneau Symphonies.

Thank you, JAHC and The Calder Quartet

2011-03-09T20:45:00.000-09:00


Calder Quartet plays "Open String Blues" with a JAMM kindergarten class (photo: Michael Penn, The Juneau Empire)

Juneau has rich offerings in both arts and culture, and the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council (JAHC) plays a huge part! They bring artists from all over the country to perform in Juneau, often including concerts for kids during the school day. The Calder Quartet was one such group who performed a morning concert at our local high school. Through a Rasmuson Arts Excursion grant, all of our JAMM kindergartners were able to attend. The Calder Quartet played an eclectic mix of music - both classical and modern - demonstrating to our students the many different styles in which the violin can play.

Here are reflections from a post activity that our kindergartner teachers conducted:

"How did the music make you feel?"

"It made me feel better."
"It made me want to dance."
"It made me feel happy and like I'm in a whole orchestra. I felt like I was playing the violin."
"It made me fell kinda weird, because the one with the hair like mine did music weird."
"It made feel good and sad."

When asked, "Did the music create an image or story in your mind?" the children answered:

"Yes! It made me remember about my great grandpa and my uncle who died."

What made this experience even more memorable for our students was the quartet's surprise visit to a JAMM rehearsal. Our kindergartners could now perform for them! Ms. Hickmann's young class of musicians played A and E String Concertos for Ben, Andrew, Jonathan and Eric and then invited them to play along for Open String Blues. The quartet is photographed above playing on JAMM quarter-sized violins.

Thank you, Calder Quartet, for making time in a very busy schedule to visit Juneau, Alaska Music Matters. When we met in Los Angeles during the El Sistema Symposium in 2010, you shared how excited and supportive you are of El Sistema-inspired initiatives. By visiting JAMM, the northern-most initiative, you have inspired Juneau's next generation of musicians.

And Nancy DeCherney, Executive Director of the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council, thank you for investing in the artistic lives of Juneau's children!

Guohua Xia and Lorrie Heagy stand with The Calder Quartet

Alaska Administrators' Arts Retreat at Glacier Valley

2011-01-30T18:59:00.000-09:00

Glacier Valley Elementary School was selected as one of two Alaskan schools to host this year's Administrators' Arts Retreat: Growing Art Education Leaders for Alaska. Thirty-five administrators, principals and superintendents from all over the state visited Glacier Valley to learn first-hand how we integrate the arts to help motivate and engage our students, while building a positive school climate.

This event occurred the same week that I was in Dallas attending the Teacher of the Year conference, but was left in the very capable hands of an incredible team of Glacier Valley staff, parents, sponsors and students who packed in just a few short hours:

visits to classrooms showcasing arts-integrated lessons,
tour of artwork exhibited throughout the hallways,
observation of the performing arts in Humanities class (photo below), and
lunch and panel discussion with key constituents of our Art is Elementary program

Performing Arts as Part of GV's Humanities Class (photo by Bethany Vaughn)

Our guests also found the interaction with our Student Ambassadors to be one of the highlights of the morning (see photo below). Eighteen 4th and 5th graders were selected for their leadership qualities and participation in many of the arts activities offered at Glacier Valley. As part of their preparation for this prestigious role, students practiced handshakes, eye contact and greetings at the door. Mrs. Sielbach, our librarian and arts integration specialist, gave them tours of the artwork exhibited throughout the halls so that they could speak knowledgeably about both visual art elements and integrated core subjects. Students practiced at home and came to school dressed in their best attire, ready to escort our guests from room to room, answer any questions and proudly share personal anecdotes of why the arts are an important part of their school day.

Student Ambassadors Greet Visiting Administrators (photo by Bethany Vaughn

Here are some of the journal reflections from the administrators about their time at Glacier Valley:

I would be so proud to be the leader in a school like GV. The enthusiasm from teachers and students alike, the collaboration, passion - just a few of the things I will strive to promote and support. The development of community relations was so powerful.

At GV I saw:
75 kids engaged in rhythm dancing under control, without the need of adult redirection
teachers relying on each other, who had obviously prepared
lots of extra people helping out
parents at the forefront of the program
A principal allowing to let the control move among his staff
lots of smiles and serious engagement

Thank you to Bethany Vaughn, a parent at Glacier Valley, who donated her time by photographing the entire event. A slide show of her work and the day's events are posted above. Also, thank you, Susie Denton, Katrina Laneville, Susan Sielbach and Ted Wilson for leading the charge!

Glacier Valley Student Ambassadors pose with Principal, Ted Wilson

Visiting B Sharp in Ft. Worth, Texas

2011-01-22T15:54:00.000-09:00


The teaching staff at the El Sistema-inspired B Sharp program in Ft. Worth, Texas

While attending the National Teacher of the Year conference in Dallas, I was able to visit the newly established B Sharp program in Ft. Worth, Texas. This El Sistema-inspired program began in October, 2010 and offers ten hours of weekly music instruction as an after-school program for first grade students at Como Elementary School. The students rotate through four classes including bucket band, choir, musicianship and violin instruction. I was particularly interested in visiting this program because of its public school partnership and the after-school component for 1st graders.

Funded by the Goff Foundation, B Sharp's mission is to "bring about social change using ensemble music as the tool to build individuals and communities." The program's director, Osvaldo Mendoza, worked with the ORCHKids program in Baltimore and developed a youth orchestra in Juarez, Mexico before heading up B Sharp in August. Currently, the program enrolls about 40 students.

Osvaldo and the teaching staff had kindly altered their Friday sessions so that I could observe all four classes in one day. In that 2-hour time period, I saw incredible teaching and along with it, engaged students. Many of El Sistema's fundamentals were present in the different sessions, including joyful music-making.

For example, in the musicianship class, Robert Winckel had his kids on the edge of their seats playing the game, SoLaMi (at first, I thought it was "Salami!") where the class had to identify melodic patterns that contained a so-la-mi sequence. He also used his wedding ring as "moveable do" as he placed it between his fingers, now representing a musical staff. This entire activity was presented as a magic trick, which he encouraged his students to do at home :)

Amanda Vessels, who teaches bucket band, instantly motivated her students with this one comment: "I'm looking for teachers." She kept the lessons playful, but always with a positive discipline that demanded focus from the students and respect for proper drumming technique. Amy Jines used movement in her choir by exploring vocal pitch through a ball toss.

Afterward, Osvaldo and Jill Goff from the Goff Foundation treated me to dinner where we had a chance to talk all things El Sistema. After living and breathing it for one year as an Abreu Fellow, it was re-energizing to be able to sit down with folks who held the same interest and passion for this work. We inspired one another and plan to stay connected as we continue growing our programs. Thank you, Jill, Osvaldo and the entire B Sharp teaching staff for welcoming me into your classrooms. You are doing great work!

Standing with Jill Goff and Osvaldo Mendoza

Coming Full Circle: Franz Felkl Visits JAMM

2011-01-15T16:08:00.000-09:00

Thirteen years ago, Franz Felkl visited my classroom at the Juneau Community Charter School. He was only six years old at the time and was taking violin lessons with Guohua Xia, who is now JAMM's string director. I had just arrived in Juneau and was given the opportunity to help develop the school's curriculum - one that integrated the arts.

I wanted all twenty of my 3rd, 4th & 5th grade students to have violin lessons as part of their school day. Fortunately, Mr. Xia agreed to be their teacher. He took a huge leap of faith with me that year! It was the first time either one of us had led such a large class. Little did we know that this newly-formed teaching relationship would continue to grow and meet even greater challenges with sixty kindergartners at Glacier Valley's JAMM program years later.

Franz performed for my kids that year and helped inspire a very successful instrumental program that continues today. Mr. Xia and I knew back then how talented Franz was. I remember how shocked the students were when he told them that he hadn't missed a day of practice, even on vacation when he traveled on the ferry!

Franz is now 20 years old and is currently pursuing a Music Education degree at University of Alaska Fairbanks. When he returned to Juneau for winter break, I invited him to work with our kindergartners and do what he did thirteen years ago: perform and inspire a young generation of musicians. He did just that.

Here is a short video clip documenting the magic spell that Franz cast over Mrs. Steininger's kindergarten class. Franz, knowing that you started violin at the same age with the same teacher gives our kindergartners a sense of what they too can accomplish! It is an honor to see you come full circle - from student to music teacher. Already, you've become a great teacher. Thank you again!

JAMM in January - Continuing to Inspire While Tackling the Basics

2011-01-08T17:46:00.000-09:00


Mr. Xia's Chamber Ensemble, Aurora Strings, performs for our JAMM violinists before Winter Break

Even though JAMM had used the paper violins to teach and reinforce bow and violin holding skills during the fall semester, Mr. Xia knew that the transference of these skills onto the real violin might take some time. In order to keep our kindergartners inspired while focusing on these important details, Mr. Xia invited his younger chamber ensemble, Aurora Strings, to perform at our school before winter break.

During the performance, it was fascinating to observe how much more discerning our kindergarten audience had become since the beginning of the year. They no longer sat in pure amazement, but rather watched as musical peers - studying each bow stroke, comparing violin stances and looking ahead to finger placement on the fingerboard. Their comments reflected their own understanding of playing as a group - "I noticed how your bows all went in the same direction." They saw how much Tazer had progressed since performing for them at the beginning of the school year. This performance also carried much more significance and respect from our JAMM violinists. They sat as an audience knowing how much practice time is required to prepare for a concert and appreciated how long the Aurora Strings could stand and hold up their violins!

Returning from winter break, our kindergartners walked into violin class with a confidence and pride. They were playing A String Concerto with long bow, holding up their violins for a class count to 100 and could identify which string Mr. Xia played on his violin with over 80% accuracy! They learned how to place their fingers on each fingerboard tape. The conductor of the Juneau Symphony had even paid them a special visit to see this up and coming group of young orchestra members. They were invited to play alongside the Juneau Youth Symphony in March, and the youth symphony's director, Rick Trostel, had written a composition specially for them, called Life of the Child. They were playing music!

Students in Ms. Hickmann's class practice making a box before placing their first finger on the tape.

With this new-found confidence came a testing of boundaries. For example, during Mr. Xia's instructions, students would sit on the floor with their violins in front of them. They learned the routine of "spiders in your lap" or hands in your lap to help resist the temptation of touching the violins and it worked. But now that their violins made sound, several of our students began plucking the strings while Mr. Xia talked. When a reminder didn't work, all it took was a warning that their violin would be replaced with a paper one until their hands learned to stay in their laps and the plucking immediately stopped. Little did I know that the paper violin would serve so many purposes: pedagogical tool, behavioral motivator and community builder. Thank you, Josbel and the incredible teaching staff at Nucleo La Rinconada in Caracas, for sharing your paper violin process with us.

Kim Poole, JAMM volunteer extraordinaire, checks Amira's finger position

World Music Drumming Summer Workshops

2011-01-05T19:48:00.000-09:00

Last summer, I was fortunate enough to attend three World Music Drumming workshops to help prepare me for the start-up of our JAMM program. I attended

Pittsburgh, PA: Drumming Up the Fun! (ages 3 - 8) with Melissa Blum
Oconomowoc, WI: Kids, Choir and Drums Mix It Up with Lynn Brinckmeyer
Portland, OR: Level II Drumming with Kofi Gbolonyo

Each workshop gave me a slew of ideas and practical applications that I could use immediately in the classroom for ages 5 and up. Drumming, dance and song are a part of every workshop, and Will Schmid and his staff make learning at any level accessible and fun. The video posted above includes highlights from all of the workshops that World Music Drumming offers, including Marimba. Click on this link to download World Music Drumming Summer Workshops 2011.

Thank you, Will Schmid and the entire teaching staff at World Music Drumming, for providing such a rich music curriculum!

Winter Concert Filled with Dance and Rock 'n' Roll

2010-12-18T14:31:00.001-09:00

Dance is an integral part of Glacier Valley's arts program (photo by Bethany Vaughn)

Even though this is the first year of our JAMM violin program, Glacier Valley has been incorporating music, dance, visual arts and drama into its curriculum for years. Movement is key to learning and is often cited in current research as one of the best ways to get the brain's attention and keep it. The Venezuelan orchestras are famous for the way in which their musicians move to express music and they certainly keep their audiences in rapt attention.

I shared a short video clip in an earlier posting about how Glacier Valley uses folk dance and song to help teach the different systems of the human body. This short introduction to folk dance helped our 4th & 5th graders embody a steady beat and prepare them for their 8-week ballroom dance residency with local dance instructor, Pat Belec, in January 2011. In addition to the Human Body System dances, our winter concert also featured the Morning Musician and Rock Bands, and a dance that I learned from Michelle Quigg at World Music Drumming workshops two summers ago. The kids love this dance, which we often use as part of our Humanities classes with K/1 and 4/5. Here is a short video clip highlighting the concert:

Community Partnerships and Marimba!

2010-12-17T15:37:00.000-09:00


Betsy, Tasha and Sarah from The Canvas teach Zimbabwean Marimba to Glacier Valley 3rd and 4th graders

El Sistema utilizes the power of community partnerships and networks to help run its centers throughout the country. It has successfully struck a balance between local autonomy to reflect the needs of each community, while at the same time creating a national program that gives students from even the remotest areas opportunities to grow and challenge themselves musically.

Our Art is Elementary program at Glacier Valley also partners with community organizations to provide our students with rich arts experiences. One of those partners is The Canvas, Juneau's community arts studio, which offers classes in an inclusive environment for adults, youth and individuals with disabilities. Last year the Canvas provided expert potters for an after-school Clay Studio. This year, their teaching artists taught a marimba workshop to our 3rd and 4th grade students as part of a two-week artist residency. The Artist in the Schools program is made possible through a partnership between the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the Rasmusson Foundation and the Glacier Valley Parent Group.

Vaipuna plays the bass or the "elder" of the Marimba family who speaks little, but whose voice carries much weight

The Canvas purchased this 7-piece Zimbabwean Marimba set for its clients because of its accessibility and community building potential. After offering Marimba classes to the community, they wanted to offer these beautiful instruments to local schools through the artist-in the-schools program and hoped Glacier Valley would help pilot it. We were happy to work with The Canvas again, particularly on this project because it exposed our students to a new musical experience grounded in ensemble. Thanks to Auke Bay Elementary School, who loaned us several of their Orff xylophones, our music room was fully equipped so that every child could play a mallet instrument.

Betsy Sims, Sarah Newsham and Tasha Walen are Canvas teaching artists who offer marimba as part of the Canvas' community class offerings for children and adults. This residency has been beneficial to both organizations. The Canvas hopes to expose our Glacier Valley families to the kinds of arts programs they offer downtown, while Glacier Valley students experience ensemble playing with a beautiful instrument unaffordable to the school. Glacier Valley has also offered to loan its African drums to the Canvas so that they can offer youth workshops during the summer months. Together, Glacier Valley and Canvas are sharing resources, reaching more students and building a larger audience interested in community arts opportunities.

Here is a short video documenting the rehearsal process. Enjoy!

Friday Morning Rock Band

2010-12-11T17:40:00.000-09:00


Rod Crist teaches Eric, one of our 5th graders, the electric bass

During my Abreu Fellowship last year, I had the opportunity to travel to Venezuela to observe how each music center or "nucleo" reflected the unique culture and needs of its community. El Sistema capitalizes on the social experience of ensemble to motivate students, and throughout my two-month travels there, I saw ensembles of all kinds, many of which took place in the same center including folk, classical, choral, jazz and percussion. Witnessing such a variety of ensembles shattered any preconceived notion I had that El Sistema was purely an orchestral program.

What inspired me the most was the ability of each nucleo to find opportunities for these ensembles to play together. Instruments that I had never imagined playing alongside one another were doing so effortlessly. I remember vividly a community concert of 500 musicians performing the Venezuelan national anthem - choir accompanied by a full orchestra and a Venezuelan folk ensemble strumming alongside them. El Sistema removed any musical barriers that might have existed between these distinct ensembles and demonstrated beautifully the unifying power of music. Thanks to my time in Venezuela, I came back to Juneau with an entirely different vision of what ensemble might look like in Juneau. Thank you, FENOJIV, for this wonderful gift.

Standing with members of a Venezuelan Folk Ensemble

At Glacier Valley, we already had a guitar club and morning band, but the two groups had never played together. My trip to Venezuela changed all of that. When I returned to Juneau, I talked with Rod Crist, guitar club instructor, about ways to bring these two ensembles together in a meaningful way. I shared with him my visit to a Boston school, where an entire 5th grade class played in a rock band, every Friday afternoon. Their program was inspired by School of Rock, which offers students ages 7 - 18 the opportunity to play in a band in front of a live audience. Rick Saunders, the school's music teacher, helped the classroom teacher run the rock band, which included vocals, drums, guitars, keyboard, brass and woodwinds. Students explored the musical genre of rock and roll while developing music skills in improvisation and chord structure. These two experiences helped inspire the launching of Glacier Valley's Rock Band!

Both Rod and I were new at this, but I remembered another fundamental from Venezuela: "Don't wait, just start!" Fortunately for us, Ben Martinez came along (left photo). He was a new transplant to Juneau and had begun an after-school rock band program for elementary students in Maryland, called Treehouse School of Music. With funding from a Rasmuson Cultural Collaborations grant administered by the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Ben was able to join our team to share the work he did back in Maryland, as well as inspire our young musicians. Morning band and guitar members who mastered certain skills in their respective ensembles were invited to join this Friday morning jam session. Needless to say, the importance of practice took on a whole new meaning as students lined-up to "pass off" on their music.

Instead of playing in the friendly key of C, the Rock Band wind section had to challenge themselves to play in the key of E and B to accommodate the guitars. Clarinets and trumpets had to master notes not introduced in the beginning band book until much later, but because these notes were repeated over and over again throughout the rock songs in an exciting way, success came quickly and easily.

The wind section of our rock band takes on more challenging keys with enthusiasm!

Another unexpected benefit was the inclusion of a Morning Musician alum (8th grader, Quinn) whose brother currently plays trumpet at Glacier Valley. Thanks to the dedication of his dad who drives Quinn to school after Rock Band practice, Quinn is able to join us on drums, as well as help teach one of our fifith graders how to play the drum set. Next step: student rock band vocalists!

Quinn and his dad help connect our elementary program with the middle school

Quinn's participation helps bridge elementary with middle school and foster peer mentoring, two more fundamentals of El Sistema. Quinn's dad, Russell, also secured a donation of a drum set for our band, another example of why one shouldn't wait ... things will eventually fall into place. Thank you, Russell, and all Glacier Valley parents who support their child's musical development by getting them here at 7 a.m. Some of our students now come to school at 7 a.m. four times a week - playing in band, guitar club and Rock Band. We have a total of 47 students (almost half of the entire 4th & 5th grade student body) choosing to come to school early for these musical opportunities. Clearly, music motivates and engages kids, giving school life!

Here's a short clip of the rock band in rehearsal. For my Facebook friends, you can access the movie on Juneau Music Matters blog: http://juneaumusicmatters.blogspot.com/

Morning Musicians: Band and Guitar Clubs

2010-12-04T13:37:00.000-09:00

The flute section of Glacier Valley's Morning Musician program rehearse separately for the first month to master skills specific to their instrument

One reader asked if Glacier Valley still offers its early morning band program for 4th and 5th graders called Morning Musicians. We certainly do and its going strong! Currently we have thirty-five students coming to school twice a week at 7 a.m. to learn how to play the clarinet, trumpet or flute.

Initially funded through a Rasmuson Cultural Collaborations grant, Morning Musicians is now funded through the Juneau School District. For the first month, each section meets with an instructor to learn skills specific to their instrument and then join together in October to begin playing as an ensemble. Many thanks to Bill Paulick from Juneau Brass and Winds, Sharon Denton and Rachel Sielbach for helping me make that first month a successful one.

Also this year, thanks to our guidance counselor, Rod Crist, we've added a morning Guitar Club for 4th and 5th graders. Rod incorporates music therapy as part of his curriculum teaching Skills for a Healthy Life and has written songs to promote positive social skilss, self-esteem and coping skills. As the kids say, "Mr. C Rocks!" And he does, every Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. teaching our students traditional American folk songs. As Rod's assistant, I hope to learn as much as I can along the way.

Fortunately, GAMA (Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association) and its partners, NAMM (International Music Products Association) and MENC (The National Association for Music Education) offer summer guitar workshops every year for music teachers all over the country. As a MENC member, I can take this class for $300 and come away with one-week of guitar lessons geared for teaching in the classroom, a guitar, curriculum materials and 3 graduate credits from Duquesne University. For more information on this incredible opportunity: Get Guitar in Your School!

Learning anything requires practice, which makes meeting only once a week for guitar club a challenge. So how do we get in more practice time as an ensemble? Answer: the Guitar Club became the back-up band for a school performance incorporating folk dance and song to help teach science concepts. The 4th and 5th grades at Glacier Valley were studying the systems of the human body, so the P.E. teacher, music teacher and counselor decided to combine their classes in the gym to help reinforce these science concepts through movement and song.

Doug Eldon's Lyrical Life Science Series uses the melodies of traditional folk songs to teach science. He has four books: Earth Science, Human Body, Plants and Mammals, and I highly recommend them. By adapting the folk dances that the students had learned from the New England Dance Master Series, we were able to combine science, dance, song and guitar all in one!

Did the kids mind the repetition? Not at all. The students enjoyed the physical and social aspect of dance (as well as waiting their turn to sashay down the set) while the guitarists felt a sense of purpose, providing the music for rehearsal, day after day. By the time our school performance came around, guitar chords were habitual and science concepts, ingrained. See for yourself:

The Arts Do This!

2010-11-29T12:36:00.000-09:00

I had several requests to share my acceptance speech online. Here is a section of it, which focuses on the importance of making the arts an integral part of every child's public education.

I've also created an Arts Research web page to use as a gathering place for resources to help others advocate for arts education. There is a section solely dedicated to instrumental music. I hope it is useful.

Here is the excerpt from my speech:

Public education is about access and all children deserve access to instruction that represents the richness of our society, as well as the diversity of our students and their families. The arts do this!

All children deserve access to a school environment that acknowledges them as whole human beings and respects the unique blend of culture, interests and natural talents that they already bring with them to school. The arts do this!

All children deserve access to skills that will prepare them for the 21st century workforce including risk-taking and innovation, adaptability and teamwork and communicating effectively in multiple modes of literacy. A recent Newsweek article from the July issue called The Creativity Crisis referenced a recent IBM poll of 1,5000 CEO's who identified creativity as the 1No. 1 leadership competency of the future.' The arts do this!

All children deserve access to experiences that demand discipline, personal expression and the challenging but rewarding process of approaching a subject with an aesthetic eye. What they learn through this process is the confidence and responsibility of sharing what they know and can do with their community. The arts do this!

And finally, all children deserve access to brain-based teaching that fully engages body and mind as part of the process, extends learning beyond the school day and provides multiple entry points for understanding. The arts do this!

Not too long ago, a third grader proudly shared her idea of a slogan for our school's radio show: 'Glacier Valley, what don't we do?' This simple remark illustrates a child's openness to what learning can become, with all its possibilities and her active role in them. Her slogan also speaks to the strength of community partnerships linked with the arts, which empowered a Title I school to turn privatized opportunities into public ones. Through this rich artistic process, where school and life intersect, students discover who they can become and how they can make their unique mark on this world. As John Ruskin wrote, 'When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.'

Alaska State Teacher of the Year for 2011

2010-11-28T15:16:00.000-09:00

Physical education teacher Susie Denton, left, and librarian Susan Sielbach hold up a quilt Wednesday made for Alaska Teacher of the Year Lorrie Heagy during an assembly. (photo: Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)

For those readers who check my blog regularly, you may have noticed that I've been delinquent in posting these past few months. It took a reader from Germany who e-mailed me to ask if everything was okay to realize that I need to explain the reason behind my negligence, as well as get caught up on my postings pronto!

On November 14th in Anchorage, I was awarded the Alaska State Teacher of the Year for 2011. It has been and continues to be an incredible honor to represent Alaska's teachers, especially those from the Juneau School District whom I have benefited from working alongside these past thirteen years.

With this honor comes incredible responsibility, and even though I continue to teach full-time, I've also been given the opportunity to attend and speak at conferences, as well as lead teacher workshops. They have all been positive experiences, but my blog has suffered as a result. So, I have some catching up to do.

I'd like to start with this gift from Glacier Valley:

Right before Thanksgiving break, the Glacier Valley staff and community surprised me with an assembly to celebrate the award. I was greeted in song and invited to sit on a stool, which was surrounded by the entire school population. All of the students had written letters with representatives from each grade level standing and reading their letter aloud before presenting them in beautifully bound class books.

The photo above captures a quilt sewn by my teaching partners, Susie Denton and Susan Sielbach. I don't know how they did it, but they managed to have every child cut and sign their name on a heart to create this beautiful gift during the school day without me noticing! Thank you!

The Juneau Empire wrote a wonderful account of the event for their Thanksgiving issue: Glacier Valley Cheers Heagy.

I'd like to dedicate to Glacier Valley and the Juneau community this short iMovie that I made for our Digital Storytelling club several years ago. It sums up how I feel about living and working in such an incredible community. The little girl sitting between her father and older brother is me ...

Violins Are Here!

2010-11-21T13:41:00.000-09:00

Thirty-five violins arrive from Chengdu, China ready for JAMM kindergartners

The closing of the curtain on last week's Paper Violin concert marked the beginning of JAMM lessons using the real violin! The kindergartners can't wait to hold these beautiful violins, which arrived from Chengdu, China. Mr. Xia, our violin instructor, personally played on these violins while visiting China last summer and was able to describe our program to the owners of the Seven Colors Wind String Shop who sold the violins to JAMM at a generous discount. Thank you, Seven Colors Wind String Shop and Mr. Xia, as well as Holland America and the Douglas-Dornan Foundation who funded violins to outfit an entire classroom of kindergartners.

Our hope is to be able to quickly transition the violins from the hands of one kindergarten class into the next. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to visit ORCHKids in Baltimore last year as part of the Abreu Fellowship. While there, Dan Trahey, the director of the program, shared with the fellows a classroom violin storage unit on wheels that they had custom-made to help cut down on transition time, as well as avoid opportunities for violins to break when children take them in and out of their cases. Here is it:

Violin storage unit from ORCHKids in Baltimore

JAMM heeded Dan's advice and built something similar with storage donated by Glacier Valley's art room. With the help and ingenuity of the Juneau School District Maintenance Department, our storage unit became a sturdy violin storage unit with maximum capacity of thirty-five violins and room to store bows and other supplies. We color-coded each cubby with tape: white for 1/10 size, yellow for 1/8, red for 1/4 and green for 1/2. Here's the final product with one of our master craftsmen standing proudly beside it. Thank you, Juneau School District Maintenance Department for your time, energy and creative problem-solving! Now we're ready for next week!

JAMM's new violin storage unit built by the Juneau School District Maintenance Department

Week 10: Paper Violin Concert

2010-11-14T11:07:00.000-09:00


Sixty Glacier Valley School kindergartners demonstrate the steps to holding the violin

Playing to a packed audience, our kindergartners had their first taste of what it means to be performers! These little musicians were poised and prepared. They welcomed the audience of proud family members, supportive community members and curious 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classes with a Nigerian welcome song, Funga Alafia, accompanied on the drums by students from Mrs. Phillips 3/4 grade class. Then we moved right into the Paper Violin portion of the concert.

Here is a short video clip highlighting their performance:

We are all very proud of our young violinists who demonstrated focus, discipline, teamwork and the joy of music-making as part of an ensemble. After photos were taken of parent and child holding paper violin, these beautifully hand-crafted instruments made their way home, a rite of passage symbolizing that each child will be playing the real violin in the next JAMM class!

Thank you, Association of Alaska School Boards, Douglas-Dornan Foundation and Holland America for making this next step a reality for our kindergartners. They can't wait!!! I'd also like to thank the Juneau Empire for covering our event. I'm proud to be part of a community who cares so much about our youth and makes things extraordinary happen for them.

Click here to read the Juneau Empire article:

Week 8: Practicing for Our Performance

2010-10-31T14:29:00.000-08:00

This week our kindergartners began practicing for their upcoming November 10th concert, which will feature the work they've been doing in their violin, general music and Humanities classes. They are very excited about this concert because it acts as a rite of passage to playing the real violin.

I don't have much to add in the way of interesting pedagogical tips, other than the students love when I ask them to shout out in a Texas cowboy drawl: "Look, mom and dad! Here's my one-armed bow hold." Then they proceed by putting one hand behind their back as they pick up the bow with the other and place their fingers in the right order and position:

Thumb!
Middle!
Ring!
Pointer!
Pinkie perched on top!

As I hear anecdotes from parents, students and teachers concerning this violin program, I'm reminded again and again how important it is for every child to have the arts as part of his or her public education.

A mom shared with the kindergarten teacher that her son had been practicing bow hold with a stick over the weekend.
A child-care provider noticed one of our students making Mr. Fox with his bow hand during his free-time
A student came up to me in the hall to tell me that he dreamed about playing violin.
Another parent shared that when she asks her son what was his favorite part of the day, he consistently responds,"Violin!"

With that said, I'd like to leave you with a YouTube video that Shelley Toon Hight, an incredible visual artist whom I had the pleasure to teach alongside, shared during last summer's Juneau Art Institute for public school teachers and administrators. The video is called "Art, I Want You" and reminds me why the arts should be a right of every child.

Week 7: Twinkle, Twinkle and Up Like a Rocket!

2010-10-23T13:16:00.000-08:00


Glacier Valley Kindergartners Practice Bow Hold with "Up Like a Rocket" Exercise

Before the Abreu Fellowship ended last June, Katie Wyatt of KidzNotes shared with me all of her Suzuki tips and exercises for young children. One of them focused on building bow hold strength while maintaining correct hand position. Here it is:

UP LIKE A ROCKET

Up like a rocket           (lift bow above head)
Down like the rain        (lower frog to belly button)
Back and forth            (move bow side to side)
Like a choo-choo train

'Round and 'round         (circle bow around your head)
Like a great big sun
Tap your head             (tap frog on your head)
Bumpy thumb              (show your thumb knuckle out)
Tap your pinkie            (tap your pinkie on bow)
Now you're done.          (rest bow on shoulder)

This week we put bow to paper violin by playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. To help support a continual "up, down" bow direction, we adapted Shelley Gill's Twinkle, Twinkle Northern Lights from her book The Alaska Mother Goose and created our own Alaskan version. Here it is:

An Alaskan Twinkle
Twinkle, twinkle little starlight
Sparkling in the arctic clear night
Up above the mountain ridgeline
Blue-green ribbons dance with spruce pine
Twinkle, twinkle little starlight
Sparkling in the arctic clear night

Right now the kindergartners are singing the bow direction "down, up" rather than the lyrics, but our hope is to invite the audience to sing along with them as part of their finale piece for the concert. Here is a short video clip of the students "playing" Twinkle, Twinkle with Mr. Xia. You see their kindergarten teacher, Miss Hickman, moving through the group helping individual students make adjustments. I can't emphasize enough hoe important the collaboration between classroom teacher, music teacher and community artist has been to the success of our program.

One question I have for folks out there using paper violins as a pedagogical component of their strings program is, "Does theis process help students stick with the important, but oftentimes boring, steps needed to master bow and violin holding positions?

My initial thoughts are "Yes." Each week the students see progress as we add another piece to their paper violin, which logically corresponds to a skill they mastered. They seem willing to stay the course knowing that with each new skill, they are getting that much closer to the real thing. I don't know if they'd have the same attitude and patience if the violin was handed to them the first day. They might expect to be able to play right away and then become frustrated with the process when our eager kindergartners learn the realities behind playing an instrument. Any thoughts out there?

Week 6: Peer Mentoring Begins at an Early Age

2010-10-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

Ongo, one of Mr. Xia's "teaching assistants," helps MacKenzie with her bow hold

One of El Sistema's principles is "Place trust in our youth." In the nucleos throughout Venezuela, children are encouraged to become peer mentors at an early age. Students take their responsibilities as class leaders and teachers quite seriously, and it's incredible to watch the respectful interaction that occurs when they are given the opportunity to help a fellow classmate.

As an El Sistema-inspired initiative, JAMM also supports peer mentoring at an early age. We had our first opportunity this week continuing our work with the bow hold. Mr. Xia explained that the bow hold is probably the most difficult skill to master - some will pick it up more quickly than others, but it's important that everyone learn it correctly. The "perched pinkie" and bent thumb were usually the two culprits as Mr. Xia and I quickly traveled around the room checking each student's bow hold. We are still using dowel rods as bows, but have added the BowMaster bow grip to help with finger placement. Xia found them at a discounted price and plans to use them for the kindergartners' bows when they move to their real violins in early November.

As students "passed off" on their bow hold, they were promoted to teaching assistants who could travel throughout the room to help their classmates. There was an excitement in the room as more students worked diligently at their bow hold to become an assistant while others enjoyed the undivided attention of one of their teaching classmates.

This week also marked the last addition of parts to the paper violin: strings and tailpiece! Now we can begin rehearsing for our Paper Violin concert scheduled for the second week in November by putting bow to strings. The song we practiced this week: The Wheels on the Bus. I watched the staff of La Rinconada use this song to build bow handling skills in the documentary, El Sistema. I've also since learned that this song is used by many Suzuki teachers. Here are the verses we plan to include and practiced this week:

Wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round (bow circles the face)
Windows on the bus go up and down (move frog above head and then back down to stomach)
People on the bus go in and out (move bow toward and then away from body)
Wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish (rock bow back and forth like wipers using index and pinkie to push)
Doors on the bus open and close (place bow on strings, bow away from body using only elbow and then bow towards ear)
Horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep (tap bow on strings for each "beep")

The kindergartners' favorite is the last verse, although you'd never guess with such intense concentration on their faces:

(left to right) Deep in concentration, kindergartners rehearse Wheels on the Bus for their upcoming concert

Building Attention and Focus through Movement

2010-10-16T16:00:00.000-08:00

Glacier Valley Kindergartners and 1st Graders "Flock" to Help Build Focus Skills through Movement

Glacier Valley Elementary School values collaboration among its staff and parents. I am very fortunate to work with teachers who enjoy team teaching and integrating the arts across the curriculum. In particular, the P.E. teacher, librarian and counselor often combine their classes on Fridays with the music classes to create a class called Humanities. We began this class several years ago with the intermediate grades, which helped build community among all of the classes, as well as allow all four specialists to team and learn from each other. Topics covered during Humanities class include dancing, cooperative games, visual arts, conflict resolution and guest speakers from our community.

This year we expanded our Humanities class to the Kindergarten and K/1 multi-age classes. I think everyone thought we were crazy to try this with over 80 young students in the gym, but as you will see in the video clip below, it can be done! The incredible teachers who make it happen are:

Rod Crist - Counselor
Susan Denton - Physical Education teacher
Susan Sielbach - Librarian and Arts Integration Specialist

This video documents an activity called "Flocking" which we learned from a dear friend and teaching artist, Ryan Conarro. Ryan has worked with many of our teachers to integrate drama into the core curriculum, as well as directed the production of Tides and Tempest - a play that our 4th & 5th graders performed at the Kennedy Center when we won their National Creative Ticket award (given to only five schools in the nation each year).

Flocking is an incredible way to help build focus, attention, teamwork and eye-hand coordination through movement and supports the work we are doing with our kindergartners in their JAMM violin program. Flocking is a technique in which a group moves in no set pattern or formation, but all perform the same movements simultaneously. We describe the concept to the students as a flock of birds following the movements of its leader. As we progress, students take on that lead role and can then pass the movement off to another student who is at the back or on either side of the "flock." We haven't gotten that far in Humanities with our little ones, but Susie, Rod, Susan and I have begun passing off the lead position to each other and added scarves. It's beautiful to watch. Enjoy!

Thank you, Rod, Susan and Susie. I look forward to our Humanities classes each Friday and learn so much from working with you!

Weeks 4 & 5: Making Bow Hold Exercises Interesting

2010-10-10T19:05:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Steininger's Class Show "Mr. Fox" Bow Hold While Holding Their Violins

How do you make bow hold exercises engaging for children so that they'll practice them on their own? Turn them into a story!

Storytelling is a very effective teaching strategy. I witnessed Gustavo Dudamel use storytelling to help connect members of the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela to a difficult passage that they were rehearsing in Mahler's Symphony No. 1 . After hearing his story, the difference in their expressiveness was incredible.

The story I developed to help teach bow hold certainly is no masterpiece, but it draws attention to the important elements, especially those that students may overlook or find challenging.

Here's the process of how our story evolved for bow hold:

Step 1: Xia GuoHua shows me what the first step to a bow hold position looks like, emphasizing how difficult it is for kids to keep their thumb bent (see photo). Then I imagine what it could become in a child's imagination. I saw a fox! Fortunately, there is an American folksong called Fox Went Out a Chilly Night that has many verses which translates into many opportunities for students to practice their bow hold position!

Step 2: To introduce the hand position, I sing Fox Went Out a Chilly Night to the class. Before doing so, I show them how to make a fox with their hand, specifically focusing on the position of the thumb, which now becomes the fox's jaw jutting out so that he can bring back enough kill to feed his family, "eight, nine ten." His mouth also makes an "O" which the students will hear in the refrain of the song.

Here's the first verse:

The fox went out on a chilly night,
He prayed for the moon to give him light,
For he'd many miles to go that night,
Before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o
He'd many miles to go that night,
Before he reached the town-o.
(For the rest of the lyrics)

Each time we sang "town-o" the students opened the fox's mouth, making sure his jaw made the "O" shape. During the song, Mr. Xia moved throughout the group using a black marker to draw a line on each child's thumb and middle finger for exact placement of the "fox's mouth." This was their first experience with bow hold position. Instead of making it a rote exercise with no connection, we activated their imaginations: a fox with a song to accompany him!

Step 3: Xia would now like them to practice placing a pencil directly on the black line of the middle finger and then move thumb off and on the pencil several times, checking to be sure that the joint is bent. Have them do this several times! Arghh!! How are we going to make this interesting?

Answer: Create a commercial for Mom or Dad, which we practiced over and over again to our young musicians' delight! Here's the script:

The pencil became a bone (which came from the last verse of the song - "and the little ones chewed on the bones-o."
The student taps the pencil or "bone" against the line on his or her middle finger 16 times (to support rote counting beyond 10 in their classroom). At that point, the bone stays glued to the middle finger and the child exclaims, "It's not nice to tease Mr. Fox. Let him have his bone." And then the "fox gnaws on his bone" 16 times using his thumb lifting on and off the pencil.
If the thumb joint is not extended, the child points to Mr. Fox and says, "Behave, Mr. Fox" and corrects their thumb position.
If the thumb joint is correctly bent, the child says, "Take a bow, Mr. Fox."

Step 4: Mr. Xia would like our kindergartners to place the remaining fingers (in a specific order) on the pencil. Again, creating a story helped make it meaningful for kids. I explained that once the fox had his bone he needed to head home quickly to feed the rest of his family, so ....

He clamps down on the bone with his other tooth (ring finger)
Then he points ahead toward the direction home (index finger)
And, he keeps one ear perked, in case the farmer follows him (pinkie on top of pencil)

Kim Poole, who volunteers in the classroom, wrote this rhyme to help the kids remember the order:

The fox taught me how to hold my bow
He clamps it in his jaw just like so
He adds another tooth so it won't be loose
My pointer goes up toward the head of the goose
My pinkie curls up to make an ear
So if the farmer's coming he can hear

Step 6: They are ready to move on to their dowel rod bows! (see photo below)

Other exciting news this week: we've added fingerboards and bridges to the paper violins. We're almost there!

Jamal proudly models his bow hold!

Drumming as Part of the Curriculum

2010-10-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

Kindergartners and 1st graders from Mrs. Peters' class pose with their drums donated by Remo and World Music Drumming

Thanks to the generous support of Remo Belli of Remo Drums and Will Schmid of World Music Drumming, JAMM was gifted enough drums to outfit an entire classroom of students. World Music Drumming embraces many of the principles of El Sistema, including group ensemble, use of complex repertoire and folk music from the Americas and joyful music-making.

This past summer I attended three World Music Drumming workshops while making my way back to Juneau. They included Drumming Up the Fun for 3 - 8 year old children, Kids Choir and Drums and Level 2 Drumming. All of the workshops gave me skills, strategies and lesson ideas to meaningfully integrate drumming into the music and school curriculum.

When students entered the music room this year, colorful drums lined the walls. We started out the year drumming to help build ensemble skills, introduce complementary rhythm patterns and reinforce active listening, while focusing on the lead drummer. Although I have drummed with my students in the past, this year was the first time I tried it with kindergartners and it was incredible to watch!

I use a strategy, I term "Levels." Each time the class accomplishes a skill, we move on to the next skill level. The important note here is that they must still maintain all of the previous skills mastered. In one 40-minute kindergarten class, the students reached Level 12!

Here's the process:

Level 1: Strong standing position (hands are initially behind their backs so they aren't tempted to hit the drums at random)
Level 2: Echoing the lyrics to a song (you first need to know how to sing the song before you can accompany it on the drums)
Level 3: Enunciating the lyrics (aka "Vegetable Mouth" - "words are much more exciting when you say them like crunchy vegetables in your mouth")
Level 4: Smiling while saying the lyrics
Level 5: Mouthing the words while teacher sings
Level 6: Singing the lyrics
Level 7: Sitting at the drum: edge of seat, flat feet, straight back and hands on your knees
Level 8: Clapping the last note of my drum rhythm (which signals stop) while I chant it
Level 9: Clapping the last note of my drum rhythm while I play it on the drum
Level 10: Placing that last note of my drum rhythm as a low tone on the middle of the drumming and "freezing."
Level 11: Practicing steady beat (not easy for these little guys!)
Level 12: Playing your own rhythms, but stopping together on the drum signal

After each skill, I announce, "Take a bow, you have reached Level __ in drumming." From singing to holding a steady beat, the class is determined to reach higher levels of skill mastery. By the end of the lesson, they had reached Level 12. These levels are not written in stone and are often created as the lesson evolves, which is why I sometimes forget the corresponding number (you'll see this in the video below). The students are pretty good at keeping tally. In the video, I've documented the Levels process in an edited version. Also take note of the tremendous focus, control, eye-hand coordination and delayed gratification of these young musicians, as well as their pride and joy.

Week 3: Repetition Done Kinder Style

2010-09-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

The JAMM violin program continues to focus on areas of control, focus and practice of fine and gross motor skills. Arctic Carpet's donation of 30 carpet squares helped define our "stage" and reinforce for our kindergartners the concept of performance. We certainly recommend them. Thank you, Arctic Carpet!

The video below gives a brief summary of our first three weeks, highlighting how we practiced the same skills over and over again, but delivered them in a variety of ways to keep them interesting.

Thank you, Kim Poole, for volunteering regularly in our JAMM classes. She provided much of the videotape you'll see in this clip. Kim recently won a seat for the Juneau School District School Board. Congratulations, Kim!

Week 2: Standing/Holding Positions & Making Bows

2010-09-18T23:12:00.000-08:00

This week we split the classes in half so that Mr. Xia could work more closely with students to help them master their violin standing and holding positions. The other half spent their session in the classroom with the kindergarten teacher making their violin bows. The class came together on the last day to "pass off" on their stances, "take a bow" for reaching Level 6 and celebrate the fact that they're ready to receive their paper violins next week.
Bow Making Process (30 minutes):

An adult cuts hard wood dowel rods (3/8 x 48 inches) in half - enough for each child to have one.
Children do the rest: Cover the dowel rods completely with beeswax to fill in niches.
Sand the dowel rod with medium grit and finish with a finer grade.
Test to be sure there's no remaining beeswax residue by rubbing a dark cloth over the dowel rod. If it sticks or leaves a residue, keep sanding until it's nice and smooth.

So how do you make violin standing and holding positions engaging for a kindergartner so that they'll repeat and practice it at home? Turn it into a Superhero Stance! Ashiya, Nakia and Jarrell demonstrated each step below with a poem to help them remember:

"Like a hero standing tall,
Victorious, ready, proud and strong.
Yes! Button by shoulder, chin to side
Lift my arm up, I'm ready to fly."

Position 1: "Like a Hero Standing Tall" (Feet Together)

Position 2: "Victorious" (Feet in a "V" Shape)

Position 3: "Ready" (Left Foot Forward)

Position 4: "Proud and ..." (Head Up)

Position 5: "Strong." (Left Arm Out Showing Your Muscles)

Position 6: "Yes!" (Elbow Inward above Stomach)

Position 7: "Button by Shoulder, Chin to the Side" (Button Placed on Side of Neck with Chin on Chin Rest)

Position 8: "Raise My Arm Up, I'm Ready to Fly ." (Lift Up Arm & Hold Position)

Congratulations, You've Reached Level 8 in Violin! Take a Bow!

Week 1: Setting the Stage for Our Kinder Musicians

2010-09-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

Tazer and Mr. Xia play Dvorak's Humoresque for Glacier Valley kindergartners

How do you inspire a kindergartner to play violin and persevere through those initial squeaks and squawks? Answer: Invite Tazer to perform! Tazer (photo above) started playing at age five, but now has two years of violin lessons under his belt. Now how do you inspire a parent to persevere through those same squawks? Answer: Invite David, a high school student who started playing at age five, to immediately follow Tazer. Both are students of Mr. Xia.

In a span of five minutes, our kindergartners and their families witnessed the tremendous musical growth, stage presence and maturity that can occur when a child receives consistent musical support throughout his or her school years.

That is how Glacier Valley Elementary School kicked off its first week of JAMM, along with two evenings of "paper violin" building for kindergartners and their families. The paper orchestra project comes directly from the Venezuelan free music education program, El Sistema, which has served over 1 million children. There, children and families hand craft paper string instruments so that young learners can develop respect, care and discipline for their instruments while also building basic musicianship skills, such as singing. Thank you Josbel Puche and Veronice Useche, both teachers at La Rinconada Nucleo in Caracas, for sharing this project with me and so many others.

Our JAMM event had an incredible turn-out both nights. Families from two of the four kindergarten classes were encouraged to come one night so that they'd have the opportunity to mix and mingle with parents and kids from their child's class. The other two classes came the following night. Two major supporters of the JAMM program attended as well: Paul Douglas from the Douglas-Dornan Foundation and Sally Rue from the Association of Alaska School Boards. Each were presented with a completed paper violin (see photo below).

Kindergarten teachers, Kaye Peters and JoAnn Steininger, pose with Paul Douglas of the Douglas-Dornan Foundation holding his Paper Violin (photo by Ryan Aguilar)

Sally Rue noted that the kindergartners at her table easily identified all of the parts to her paper violin, which the students learned in their first week of violin classes. Thank you, Lisa Miles, Juneau Suzuki teacher, for sharing your lyrics "Parts of a Violin" which is sung to Lightly Row, a Suzuki piece in Book 1. During this event, kindergartners also sang "Five Little Monkeys" with their arms held high above their heads to show their parents how they are building upper body strength through song and finger play in preparation for holding their real violin. Their favorite part of the song is at the end when the alligator misses the last monkey. They all sing, "Miss me, miss me, now you gotta kiss me."

Kindergartners sing "Five Little Monkeys" (photo by Michael Penn)

For those students whose families couldn't attend, some of our Glacier Valley 5th graders became a kinder buddy and together built the violin during the school day.

Kaden helps his kinder buddy finish her paper violin

Thank you Tazer, Alexander and David for inspiring our 65 kindergartners and their families with your beautiful playing! For more details about our paper violin building event, check out this front page article from The Juneau Empire: Unique music program spreads to Juneau starting with paper violins.

Ashiya carries her violin over to the table to dry (photo by Michael Penn)

Paper Violin Process: A Venezuelan, Scottish & Alaskan Blend

2010-09-14T10:47:00.000-08:00


Glacier Valley Teachers, Susie Denton and Susan Sielbach, Refine Paper Violin Process

One way to help realize Dr. Abreu's wish of bringing El Sistema initiatives to the US and the rest of the world is to document and share what we do. The Paper Orchestra is just such an example. As I mentioned in my last posting, the teachers at La Rinconada Nucleo generously shared how and why they developed the paper orchestra. When I traveled to Stirling for a month last spring to intern at Sistema Scotland's Big Noise program, Jennifer Nicholson, a violin teacher there, shared how Big Noise had adapted the paper orchestra process to meet their needs. Now back in Alaska, we are also adapting the process to respond to time constraints and available materials. We'd like to pass the gift along.

Here's the process: A Blending of Ideas Venezuelan, Scottish and Alaskan Style

We used the same cardboard construction process as our friends in Scotland, but rather than cover the violin with copper wrapping paper, we covered our cardboard with recycled brown packing paper dipped in a glue, paint and glaze mix. This concoction came from the creative and collective minds of Glacier Valley teachers, Susie Denton and Susan Sielbach. Together they created a mixture that gives a beautiful golden wood-like hue to our paper violins. For thirty 1/4-size cardboard violins you'll need to mix together (approximately) 8 cups glue, 4 cups water, 1/2 cup brown tempera paint and 2 oz. of bronze glaze.

All of the following pieces were precut, so that families could tape together the main violin pieces and cover the violin body and neck in the paint mixture within an hour's time.


Step1: Your template depends on the size of violin. We made 1/4-size violins. Measure and trace the violin you'll be using. Big Noise Tip: Make sure that the cardboard strips are cut with the corrugation going vertically. Also loosen or bend the strips along the edge of a table before taping so that they can conform easily to the curves of the violin.

Step 2: The traced violin body is on a folded piece of paper. The crown piece at the bottom right-hand corner covers the neck (with the crown point connecting to the back of the violin body.

Step 3: With Step 2 pieces cut-out and violin taped, you're ready for the painting process!

Step 4: Strips are dipped in the glue/paint mixture and molded along the violin edges. Big Noise Tip: You may need to clip along edges of overlap for a clean fit.


Step 5: To make sure that your violin body cut-out doesn't tear, we recommend painting directly on the top of the cardboard violin, then place body cut-out and then paint over it. Repeat the same process for the back. Then let it dry.

Step 6: What would we do without duct tape!

Step 7: After the violin has dried, you can begin adding parts. We added parts as kindergartners mastered certain skills. For example, once they learned the violin standing positions, they received the paper violin with a chin rest. Big Noise Tip: The recyclable apple containers make great chin rests. We painted ours with black tempera paint and used duct tape. Little pieces of cardboard are glued under the tailpiece and fingerboard to give it a lift.

Step 8: Each week, a new piece is added to make meaningful connections to learning and skill level.

Step 9: Final product! Have an adult string the instrument. Big Noise Tip: Use an open-eye needle to string the holes made by a bookmaker's awl (or thumb tack) for the bridge and tailpiece.

Thank you, Josbel Puche and Veronica Useche of La Rinconada in Caracas, as well as Jennifer Nicholsen and Alan Govias of Big Noise Sistema Scotland for sharing your paper orchestra with us! I also want to thank Susan Sielbach and Susie Denton, my teaching partners at Glacier Valley Elementary School, for giving this process an Alaskan twist!

YOLA at HOLA Teacher Training in LA

2010-09-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

Who said living in Alaska would be difficult to stay connected to the El Sistema USA network! Certainly not Gretchen Nielsen, Director of Educational Initiative of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and graduate Abreu Fellows, Christine Witkowski and Dan Berkowitz (see photo).

They invited me to participate in their teacher training for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's second El Sistema-inspired program: Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA). Christine is now the Project Manager of this program and Dan is the Project Manager of Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA). HOLA and Juneau, Alaska Music Matters (JAMM) are launching similar programs: violin for its youngest participants and band instruments for its older students.

The goals of the training included:

Building community among staff through making music together
Developing HOLA goals and objectives for year one
Creating a shared teaching philosophy as it relates to El Sistema principles.
Providing teacher training for newly purchased World Music Drums and curriculum
Developing a unified vision of classroom agreements and expectations

It was an ambitious plan for four days, but we did it with time to weave music making, sharing and performing throughout. We began the first day of training sharing a favorite quote about education, learning and/or leadership and ended on the last day with a drumming performance outside the HOLA building, which will soon house the newly El Sistema-inspired music program! We have plans to keep our kids connected through shared repertoire, as well as pen pals and Skype. HOLA has an incredibly talented, experienced and passionate teaching staff. Thank you Dan, Christine, Gretchen, Brandon, Blake, Bruce, Claire, Emily and Nikki for inviting me in. I came home to Juneau feeling like an extended part of the YOLA at HOLA family and equipped with more ideas and tools to begin JAMM at Glacier Valley Elementary School.

Here's the quote from Socrates, which I shared on our first day: "Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel"

Kindergarten Teachers Get Their First Violin Lesson

2010-08-28T20:50:00.000-08:00


Xia GuoHua gives Glacier Valley kindergarten teachers their first violin lesson

In my last posting, I detailed our first violin donation by recent Juneau Douglas High School graduate, Kyle Kahklen, who was inspired by the work of El Sistema after watching the documentary. His donation of a full-size violin was put to use the next day when JAMM's violin instructor, Xia GuoHua, gave a 1-hour violin lesson to Glacier Valley Elementary School's four kindergarten teachers: Carly Hickmann, Kaye Peters, JoAnn Steininger and Tia Vreeland.

After sharing his approach and goals for the kindergarten violin classes, Xia taught the basics to our teachers including violin, bow hold, open strings and bowings. Our teachers were just as excited as the kids to be learning how to play the violin. By the end of the lesson, they were playing a beautiful open string duet with Xia. Check it out!

JAMM would like to offer adult violin lessons to kindergarten parents, but are in need of full-size violins. Any violins out there collecting dust? If so, please let us know. Contact Lorrie Heagy at heagyl@jsd.k12.ak.us or 907-780-1405.

JAMM's First Donated Violin

2010-08-20T12:21:00.000-08:00

How fitting for JAMM's very first violin donation to come from one of Juneau's youth!

Kyle Kahklen, a recent graduate of Juneau Douglas High School, heard about El Sistema after watching the documentary film about this Venezuelan phenomenon. He said he knew immediately that's where he wanted to send his violin. Kyle was thrilled to learn that an El Sistema-inspired program was beginning in his hometown at Glacier Valley Elementary School and dropped by the school during our teacher inservice to present his violin. The entire staff cheered and applauded!

Peer-mentoring and leadership are celebrated components of every El Sistema ensemble and classroom throughout Venezuela. Kyle's gesture reaffirms for me this core belief: Trust Our Youth. Thank you, Kyle for this wonderful gift!

JAMM: Juneau, Alaska Music Matters

2010-07-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

It's official! Juneau, Alaska joins Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta and Durham, NC to bring El Sistema-inspired programs to communities that use the power of music and the social experience of ensemble to inspire young children and help them develop key skills for life.

In Juneau, the program is JAMM: Juneau, Alaska Music Matters

Glacier Valley Elementary School, a Title I school, will pilot Juneau's first JAMM program for the 2010-11 school year by offering violin instruction to all kindergarten classes three times a week, in addition to their general music class. As the school's returning music teacher, I'll be teaming with the kindergarten teachers and local violin instructor to offer group lessons during the school day to every kindergartner free of charge. We will also incorporate percussion and drumming as part of the program, and thank Remo Belli and Will Schmid of World Music Drumming for their donation of a 40-piece World Music Drumming from Remo. Their donation brought joy to many in Boston and the New England Conservatory and will continue to to do so in Juneau.

It's no secret among the Abreu Fellows that I am a big proponent of partnering with public schools. There is such potential to reach more children, collaborate between music teacher and community artist and connect school with community. Also there is incredible music teaching already happening in the US so I'm proud to note that many of the Abreu Fellow initiatives are connecting to existing programs and expanding services, rather than replacing them. Our common goal is for all children to access the life-long benefits that early music training brings by making it a consistent part of every child's education.

Because JAMM is based on cognitive research that show playing an instrument at an early age develops skills for success, the Association of Alaska School Boards is a major supporter of this project. We are grateful for their investment in early youth engagement, school connectedness and social/emotional skill development and will make every effort through increased funding to expand to after-school hours and more instruments, grade levels and schools.

If you'd like to support JAMM and help us reach our goal, please consider making an online donation through the Glacier Valley Parent Group using the secure Network for Good button in the sidebar. In the Designation field type: JAMM.

You can also send a check to "GVPG - JAMM, PO Box 32126, Juneau, AK, 99803."

Juneau, Alaska is proud to be the home of the world's
most northern "nucleo."

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I will continue using this blog as a place to share and document the work of JAMM so that we can collectively build upon our knowledge base.

I leave you with a photo of Glacier Valley Elementary School, a place where a family of staff, parents and students make things happen by working together and connecting with an incredible Juneau community! Thank you Juneau for believing in this program!

Glacier Valley Elementary School in Juneau, Alaska

Final Week: Inaugural Abreu Fellows Graduate

2010-06-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

The inaugural class of Abreu Fellows celebrate their graduation outside the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA

After a whirlwind spring semester marked by two months in Venezuela and a month internship in Scotland, the inaugural class of Abreu Fellows held their graduation ceremony at New England Conservatory this past week. We are excited to put into practice what we have learned during this incredible year and thank New England Conservatory, TED and FESNOJIV for investing in us, this program and the El Sistema movement throughout the US and world.

It has been an honor to share this year with such a diverse group of people, who are all passionate about music and its power to effect change in our youth and communities. I've learned from each and everyone of them. TED posted a Prize Report on our graduation, as well as reflections from the past year. Here's where we'll be this coming year, leading El Sistema-inspired programs in cities across the country.

Dan Berkowitz – was hired as Program Manager at Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA), the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s initiative to establish youth orchestra programs in underserved communities throughout Los Angeles.

Lorrie Heagy – will launch a school-based El Sistema inspired program called Juneau, Alaska Music Matters (JAMM) at Glacier Valley Elementary where she will continue teaching as a music teacher and librarian.

Rebecca Levi and David Malek – will co-lead an El Sistema inspired program at The Conservatory Lab Charter School in Boston.

Dantes Rameau – will be Executive Director of the Atlanta Music Project, a new organization serving school-age children.

Alvaro Rodas – will be the Project Director of his own grassroots start-up, the Corona Youth Music Project/Núcleo Corona (Queens, New York)

Stanford Thompson – will be the Program Director of "Tune Up, Philly!" a program of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.

Christine Witkowski – will be Program Manager for HOLA (Heart of Los Angeles), the LA Philharmonic’s second El Sistema inspired program site.

Katie Wyatt – will be a founder and the Executive Director of KidZNotes, an El Sistema inspired in- and after-school program that provides orchestral music training in the poorest neighborhoods of Durham, North Carolina.

In my next blog posting, I'll describe next year's plans for JAMM and will continue using this blog as a place to share and document the work of the program.

As I pack up my last box headed for Alaska, I'd like to thank Irene Smalls for making my stay in Boston such a memorable one. I met this incredible children's book author as my landlady, but said goodbye to her as a friend. She autographed and gifted me a set of her books, which will bring joy to hundreds of school children in Juneau, Alaska when they find them on the library shelves at Glacier Valley Elementary School. Thank you, Irene!

Week 29: Big Noise Celebrates Its 2nd Birthday

2010-06-11T08:21:00.000-08:00

Stage is set at Alberts Hall for Big Noise Birthday Celebration Concert

The big day has finally arrived! After an incredible volunteer crew of parents and community members loaded and unloaded 90 stringed-instruments and chairs for Alberts Halls, the stage is set for a joyous Big Noise Birthday celebration. A screen above the stage projects a slide show of each child posing proudly with his or her instrument and the surprise confetti launcher hangs from the trusses ready to release an explosion of confetti for the finale piece, Big Joy, arranged by Big Noise teacher Joelle Fenna.

Buses pick-up the excited 90 young musicians at Raploch Community Center as family members wave goodbye, cheering them on. What has been most impressive is the seamless coordination of so many logistics! This 2nd Birthday celebration not only highlights the two Big Noise student orchestras, but also the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Stirling City Choir who perform side-by-side.

The vision of Big Noise is big and they accomplish it every step of the way with a cohesive board, generous donors and supportive partnerships with Stirling Council, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and FESNOJIV. During the month that I interned, Big Noise more than doubled its teaching staff from 8 to 17 to prepare for an expansion from an all-string orchestra to one with percussion, brass and winds. The team will travel to Venezuela together for one week in June to experience and learn from the nucleos in Caracas. My hope is that as more teams from around the world travel to Venezuela for inspiration and understanding that we share what we've learned with each other so that we can collectively build upon our knowledge base.

Many thanks to Nicola Killean (photo on right), Director of Big Noise, for her vision and collaborative approach to leadership.

Before leaving Raploch and returning to Boston for the final week of the fellowship, I shared with the Big Noise staff the many ways in which they honor children and provide them a structured and safe musical environment. Here is a list of prevention strategies that are tried and true among music and classroom teachers to prevent behavioral problems:

Give students multiple opportunities to contribute to the well being of the class, school and community
Create a positive climate through celebrations and acknowledge success
Ensure that alternatives and choices are available
Organize your environment so that students' basic needs are satisfied
Model what you expect
Make sure your lessons have an emotional hook
Establish and teach a system of signals
Catch the students being good
Provide a structured environment so that students can be more self-sufficient and empowered in their learning
Use reinforcing, reminding and refocusing language
Establish and nurture classroom and program-wide routines/rituals, rules and reinforcements of pro-social, caring, relationships
Teach social skills, self-control strategies and ways for promoting empathy for others

Thank you everyone at Big Noise for making my internship such a welcoming one filled with learning and sharing. You have much to celebrate! Congratulations!

Ysla helps conduct one of the kids' favorite piece written by Joelle called Mission Mars

Big Noise celebration ends with a bang of confetti
(photo by Marc Marnie)

The incredible Big Noise teaching staff and volunteers

Week 28: Exploring Issues Facing Teaching-Artist Training

2010-05-24T12:51:00.000-08:00

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland

As part of my internship here at Big Noise, I was invited to present for the Scottish Arts Council and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) on current issues facing teaching artist training in the United States, my Abreu Fellowship and recent travels in Venezuela.

My presentation focused on the national projects and ideas that have inspired the work we do in Alaska, including the Minneapolis School District Arts for Academic Achievement program. This successful program has developed an Artful Teaching and Learning Handbook through the Perpich Center for Arts Education (downloadable for free) which provides resources to help build respectful communication and collaboration between teachers and artists.

At Glacier Valley Elementary School in Juneau, Alaska, this handbook has bridged community artist with classroom teacher to help create more successful arts-integrated experiences for our students. Artists come away with more classroom management skills and developmentally appropriate practices, while classroom teachers learn arts techniques and creative approaches to integrating the arts into other disciplines. We've documented our work on our Art is Elementary website.

The following questions emerged from the discussions after each presentation:

What existing models are out there that support pedagogical/social skills for artists wishing to engage in community projects?
What are the views of arts educators concerning training? Do you think there is a need for this kind of training?
What are the major issues that need to be addressed and how should such training be best delivered?

Also from these discussions, I learned that a challenge facing teaching artists in both the US and UK is having to combat the old adage, "Those who can, do and those who can't, teach." Are you less of an artist if you choose to share your art form with youth and the community?

In Venezuela, nothing could be further from the truth. Being a musician means being a teacher, which is encouraged from day one in the nucleo. If a student knows how to play four notes, then he or she can teach someone who only knows three notes. When asked, these teaching artists will tell you that teaching better informs their playing and performing better informs their teaching. It's a win-win situation that betters the individual and community. By the time they are teenagers, these skilled musicians are not only playing at a high level of musicianship, but also running sectionals, providing individual lessons and conducting younger orchestras. They are passionately committed to their art AND their community, which does not go unnoticed by the public. For example, after performances at the nucleos, teachers are often called to the stage and recognized by the students and audience members who applaud like a sports team coming onto the field. It's amazing to watch.

Perhaps by taking on the Venezuelan approach, we can usher in a new adage: "Those who can, contribute to their community."

I would love to hear comments from others on the questions and thoughts posed above. Please feel free to post a comment to continue the conversation.

Thank you, Joan Parr, Head of Education for the Scottish Arts Council, and Mary Troup, Community Music Co-ordinator of RSAMD, for organizing these presentations. The work that both of you are doing for community arts education in Scotland are forward-thinking and inspirational.

Weeks 25 & 26: Raploch, Scotland - Making Big Noise

2010-05-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

Members of the incredible Big Noise staff in Raploch, Scotland

What an exciting time to be interning at Big Noise! This organization is gearing up for its 2nd Birthday Concert on June 6th and will be making even more noise next year when it expands its string orchestra to include brass, woodwind and percussion sections filled by older elementary students.

Since arriving here on May 10th, I have been impressed by the many ways in which Big Noise makes music accessible to all students. In partnership with FESNOJIV, Stirling Council, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Drake Music Scotland, Scottish Arts Council and three primary schools housed at the Raploch Community Center, Big Noise serves over 90 children between the ages of 6 and 10 through after-school orchestras and 100 nursery school children, 30 kindergartners and 30 children with special needs during the school day. They also began "The Noise" orchestra last summer for adults in the Raploch community. All of this occurs three days out of the week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays where each child in the orchestra experiences full orchestra rehearsals, sectionals and individual lessons.

I have been learning so much, especially in the early childhood classes where Aimee, Helen, Jennifer and Ysla (in photo above holding a paper violin) help prepare these little ones for a successful transition into instrumental music. Jennifer has an early years certification in Colour Strings, which is a Kodaly-based method established in Finland 40 years ago that teaches musical concepts using colors and shapes. More and more schools in Scotland are adopting this system to help all students successfully transition to musical notation. Drake Music Scotland is piloting the project (called FigureNotes). I'm looking forward to learning more about this pedagogy through Jennifer's work with the strings.

Aimee plays cello to a spellbound toddler

Jennifer works with the Big Noise Orchestra, ages 6 - 10

Helen gives a private cello lesson

I would like to thank the entire Big Noise staff for being so welcoming! They have opened their classrooms and rehearsals to me, shared their practices and ideas and made me feel a part of the team. I'd also like to thank the Scottish Arts Council for funding my lodging at Auchyle Guest House, which is just a couple blocks from Big Noise and the Raploch Community Campus. Mandi and Tom, owners of this beautiful bed & breakfast, have treated me like family.

Mandi stands in front of her B&B: Auchyle Guest House

Here is a list of where the other fellows are interning:

Christine: Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA)
Dantes: Baltimore Symphony OrchKids
David: Verdugo Young Musicians Association
Jonathan: City Music Cleveland
Katie: Harmony Program
Rebecca: Renaissance Arts Academy
Stanford: YOURS Project

Weeks 23 & 24: Composing Change - YOLA & the El Sistema Movement

2010-05-09T09:02:00.000-08:00

Alvaro and I ready to start Composing Change in the US

I have just returned from an incredible symposium, Composing Change: YOLA and the El Sistema Movement, held in Los Angeles and hosted by the LA Phil in partnership with El Sistema USA and the League of American Orchestras. Thank you, Dan Berkowitz, Leni Boostin and Gretchen Nielsen for organizing such an inspiring program!

As part of the symposium, the Abreu Fellows shared our experiences in Venezuela, including this short movie that I made to document how a child as young as two years old might prepare for and progress through the orchestra in an El Sistema nucleo. Afterward, many people asked if they could use this film to share with their communities at home. So, here it is. You can also access it on Youtube: El Sistema: Venezuela's Youth Progress through the Orchestra

Over 250 music educators, musicians and delegates from youth orchestras and organizations attended the symposium, representing 26 states (Hawaii and Alaska included) and 6 countries! It was an honor to be in attendance and be able to share the Abreu Fellows' insights from our combined visits to over 60 nucleos throughout Venezuela. My part of the presentation reiterated the impressions that I had shared with Dr. Abreu during our last week in Venezuela:

Continuity and Unified Vision: At the nucleos where our team visited, there was always an orchestra or ensemble to meet each child at his or her musical level. More importantly, no gaps existed between one orchestra and the next, but rather a continuum of musical support from the baby classes all the way through adulthood, ensuring that no skills were lost in the interim. Every teacher works toward a strong, unified vision. For example, the early childhood teachers know how the skills they are teaching in their classes will manifest themselves in the kind of high level musicianship we see in the Simon Bolivar B Orchestra. In the United States, we have so many different community and school musical experiences available to children. We could benefit from the Venezuelan model by exploring ways to connect these offerings into one continuous conveyor belt of musical support, making sure our young musicians always have a place to "tocar y luchar" (play and strive).

At La Rinconada Nucleo, a 2-year old practices steady beat

Trust in Our Youth and Culture of Sharing: Rebecca and I had opportunities to give workshops to teachers in each Venezuelan state we visited. Our last one was held in Caracas, on a Saturday morning for 4 hours. We were amazed at how young the 40 participants were - many still teenagers or in their early twenties. When I asked, "Are all of these participants teachers?" the response from one teacher was, "Many of them are students becoming teachers" (see photo below). This is just one example of how El Sistema brings its youth into the fold and places trust in them as educators at an early age. The doors to professional development are open to everyone, as well as the doors to classrooms, materials and teaching practices. Every teacher gladly shared what they had with us wherever we went. It was an overwhelming gesture that I hope we can foster in the states. This culture of sharing and collaboration can only improve the musical experiences we provide for our children.

Some of the young participants at the teacher training workshop in Caracas

Start Early and Place No Limits: Josbel and the teachers at La Rinconada are responsible for creating the Paper Orchestra concept and are continually testing out new ideas so that children can successfully access music-making at a very young age. They embody the words that Josbel shared with the Abreu Fellows during our first week in Caracas: "There are no limits on our creativity as teachers." When I think of teachers who approach their work as an art form, I think of the incredible teaching staff at La Rinconada. An important message I will bring back with me to Juneau came from Israel who teaches violin at La Rinconada (photo below). When I asked him what should people in the United States know about El Sistema, he said, "Never place limits on what a child can do. He or she is a musician from the very start." Before coming to Venezuela, I was so worried about being able to teach violin to an entire class of kindergartners, but after seeing much younger classes with more children and a variety of instrumentation, I know it can and has been done.

Rebecca and I with some of the inspirational teachers at
Nucleo La Rinconada: Amilcar, Josbel, Veronica and Israel

My fellow colleague, Christine Witkowski, also addresses El Sistema's philosophy of starting early and placing no limits on a child in her posting entitled, 8-15 Year Olds Take on the Titans which recounts the rehearsals we saw of the National Children's Orchestra of Venezuela. Very inspiring! Muchas gracias El Sistema teachers, staff and students for giving me these incredible experiences to take back with me.

Tonight I leave for Scotland! That's right! Tomorrow I begin my one-month internship with Big Noise, an El Sistema-inspired program in the Raploch area of the city of Stirling supported by Sistema Scotland and the Scottish Arts Council. I am very excited to intern here because Big Noise partners with its local schools both during and after the school day, which is a model I plan to bring back to Juneau, Alaska. Thank you, Scottish Arts Council and the New England Conservatory for your financial support of this internship.

Week 22: Barquisimeto Nucleo - It's About Heart

2010-04-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

Rebecca, David and I with the White Hands Choir, made up of a group that signs and a group that sings.

These past two weeks, our team visited the nucleo of Barquisimeto, the same center where Gustavo Dudamel first learned how to play the violin (an accomplishment this musical community is very proud of evident by the huge Dudamel banners hanging from the nucleo's walls). But Dudamel is just one source of their pride: Barquisimeto boasts nine orchestras, nine choirs - from toddler to adult - and a special needs program that was piloted here before spreading nationally to 19 nucleos with 19 more on the way.

When I asked Alfredo D'Addona, the nucleo director of Barquisimeto, "What's the most important thing you would want people to know about this nucleo?" his immediate response was, "Heart. It's about heart." His words embody so much of what we've seen and heard not only in Barquisimeto, but in all of the nucleos during our travels throughout Venezuela.

It's impossible for me to do justice to this concept of "heart" in words, so I hope you'll watch this short 4-minute video dedicated to Alfredo D'Addona and the staff, students and parents of the Barquisimeto nucleo. I highlighted many of the special needs programs, but specifically tried to capture the heart of this nucleo with surprise footage at the end. The rest of the blog gives more details into the incredible work Barquisimeto is doing. Thank you, Barquisimeto, for opening your doors and hearts to the Abreu Fellows.

Barquisimeto's Special Needs Program offers a wide range of musical opportunities including percussion ensembles and piano lessons, bell choirs and an a cappella quintet. They also run a braille printing service that translates everything from Harry Potter to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony for its students and even takes international requests. What's wonderful about these programs is that they are fully integrated, creating an atmosphere of inclusion throughout the building. In each ensemble, a team of teachers works together, modeling the power and joy of collaboration for their students. For example, Naybeth and Luis lead the two choruses that make up the White Hands Choir. While Naybeth and the young people with hearing impairments "sing" through sign language, Luis conducts the voices of students who are sight-impaired or have cognitive or physical disabilities. However, in the spirit of true integration, there are also students without any disabilities in both groups.

With Dudamel as the backdrop, Rebecca and Jamie Bernstein talk to Daniel, a student at the Barquisimeto nucleo.

The Baby Choir warms-up singing solfege along with hand signs.

Gabriel demonstrates how he writes his music theory homework in Braille, punching hole by hole.

It's All In the Family: Many of Barquisimeto's teachers and staff grew up together in El Sistema, playing side-by-side in the orchestra as children. The feel of the nucleo, like many we have seen, is one of a big, happy family. Today as administrators and teachers, they remain close friends (some married to one another) and have a shared experience that provides a clear, unified vision for their work. Many also continue to play, striking what can be a difficult balance between being a musician and working as an administrator. For example, Alfredo can be found most mornings rehearsing with the Lara Symphony Orchestra, which prepares a weekly Thursday night concert. Conveniently, the rehearsal space is located at the nucleo, so after packing up his trumpet, Alfredo can walk across the parking lot and begin his administrative work before teaching in the afternoon and evening.

Alfredo D'Addona stands outside the nucleo with the Abreu Fellows.

(below his wife, Libia, conducts the Symphonic Choir)

Partnerships: Barquisimeto is unique in that the nucleo shares its building with the Conservatory. With over 3,000 students attending the nucleo alone, space is limited. The inside courtyard handles the overflow beautifully and brims with musical activity in every corner. On Fridays, there is no symphony rehearsal because most of the players teach at the nucleo or conservatory. That teaching time is generally reserved for the highest-level students, many of whom travel from outlying areas to learn techniques that they can share with the less advanced students in their home orchestra.

The inside courtyard of Barquisimeto nucleo

A cello sectional takes place in the reception area of the nucleo.

A percussion teacher holds an individual lesson in one of the corners of the courtyard.

On our last day, as we were finishing up our last meeting, we heard the sounds of an orchestra tuning up. As we followed the sounds outside, we saw crowds gathering in front of a chorus made up of children and their parents. We had no idea that the nucleo was preparing for the arrival of its city's patron saint. But before long, the procession showed up, led by La Divina Pastora herself. As I looked around at the musicians mixed in with the community members, I thought about the impact that Alfredo and his "family" have had on their city and feel grateful to have been a part of this nucleo for two weeks. Muchas gracias para todo!

Outside the nucleo, the orchestra and choirs prepare for the processional of Barquisimeto's patron saint, La Divina Pastora.

Week 21: Early Childhood Programs - Never Too Early to Start

2010-03-28T16:01:00.000-08:00

When I first started researching El Sistema, most of what I could find online was footage of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra and Gustavo Dudamel - both never cease to amaze me, but as an elementary music teacher, I wanted to know how they got there. What were these exceptional musicians doing at 5 or 10 years old in their local nucleo?

After observing ten different sites throughout Venezuela this past month, I now have a better picture of what their experiences might have looked like. Rodrigo Guerrero, International Affairs Coordinator of FESNOJIV, shared with me in Caracas that most of the nucleos begin their programs for children between the ages of 6 and 8, but that they hope to expand their programming to reach even younger children.

La Rinconada and Maracay are doing just that. These two nucleos are recognized for their early childhood programs, including classes for parents and toddlers. I also observed a Mozart Orchestra in Barquisimeto that had children playing brass and woodwind instruments as young as 4 years old! Like the miniature stringed instruments seen in most nucleos, Barquisimeto provides smaller brass instruments to fit the hands of these very young musicians. Even though you’ll see one or two students struggling with an instrument that’s just too big for them, it's been obvious to us throughout our travels that the nucleos are dedicated to meeting children where they are.

Before sharing a 3-minute movie clip highlighting the early childhood instrumental programs at La Rinconada, Barquisimeto and Maracay, I wanted to share a few observations:

Human Values: Cesar Rangel, the President of OSA (Orquesta Sinfonica de Aragua) shared this: "The magic of the system is human values. The orchestra provides that." The early musicianship classes focus on these values. Children learn to take turns, respect their instruments and care for their fellow classmates.

Child-Size Instruments: Although the general rule across El Sistema for wind instruments is to wait until the child's permanent teeth come in, we saw children as young as 4 and 5 years old in Barquisimeto playing these instruments, miniature-sized. When asked how teachers deal with the "missing teeth" problem, the answer is: wait until the process is complete and then start up again. The recorder still plays an introductory role for wind instruments, as well as helps develop pitch discrimination for all of its young musicians.

Paper Orchestra Debate: Many of the teachers in the nucleos of both states of Lara and Aragua have not heard of the Paper Orchestra concept. When we explained that in Caracas the Paper Orchestra is used as a pedagogical step before a child plays an instrument (see La Rinconada posting for more details), one of the violin teachers in Maracay responded, " El Sistema is about getting instruments into the hands of children at an early age." She felt that a paper instrument might confuse the child, rather than help prepare them. Interesting contrast. So far, Caracas is the only place where we've seen the Paper Orchestra.

Solfege and Singing: In an earlier post, I shared that the nucleos we've visited view singing as an important precursor to playing an instrument because it helps develop the ear. Singing and solfege continue to play a key role in the early orchestras as well. When practicing a melody or rhythmic pattern on their instruments, these younger classes alternate between singing lyrics, solfege and playing their instrument.

Parent Investment: Many of the baby classes have parents learning right alongside their child or participating in a parents only orchestra or chorus class. These classes have a specific purpose: to strengthen support at home for the child's musical development.

Student/Teacher Ratio: El Sistema's core value of investing early couldn't be more evident in their student-teacher ratio. Wherever we go, these young orchestras have on average a teacher or teaching assistant for every six children! Nucleos also invest in their young adults by giving them teaching roles and responsibilities. Becoming a teacher is a much sought after goal by these young musicians and considered quite an honor.

Week 20: Cultural Exchange in the State of Aragua

2010-03-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

Students Outside Cagua Nucleo

The staff and faculty of FESNOJIV (El Sistema) have been incredible hosts to the Abreu Fellows and have given us so much information and inspiration. Now in Aragua, we have a chance to give back.

While visiting five different nucleos throughout the state, Rebecca, David and I have been able to teach classes to students and adults, including a workshop in Maracay focused on singing games and dances for teachers coming from all over Aragua. These five nucleo sites are:

Cagua: We were fortunate to attend the opening ceremony of Cagua's new site along with their honored guest, Dr. Abreu! This nucleo has a very strong orchestra and Venezuelan Folk Music program, which is an extraordinary feat considering the students have been playing their instruments for just one year. The nucleo began in September 2008 in a school building across the street.

Colonia Tovar: This town was founded in 1843 by a group of German settlers who recreated their homeland in the Venezuelan mountains. The nucleo of 300 uses the university during the weekend and a church during the weekdays for its orchestra and choir rehearsals. One unique component of this nucleo is its lutiere training program for string instruments. With 21 students and 6 teachers, this workshop serves the entire state of Aragua.

La Victoria: While their space downtown is being renovated, this nucleo is being temporarily housed in a post-independence colonial home. With an enclosed courtyard and enough rooms to house 650 students, the nucleo echoes with the music of choirs, cellos and even electric cuatros. Rebecca, David and I were treated to mini-concerts throughout the center, including an early childhood program sung in English and Spanish.

Maracay: This nucleo has the most comprehensive program in Aragua and is recognized for its early childhood program. In one evening alone, we observed a toddler program (1 to 3 year olds) packed with moms and dads tapping sticks together with their child to the beat of Mozart; a beginning orchestra for parents learning alongside their child and a strings program for 1 to 6 year old children bowing a rhythm together on their miniature instruments. This strings program has 90 students enrolled with 30 of them still in diapers!

San Vicente: This nucleo is situated next to the largest garbage dump in the state of Aragua. San Vicente serves about 250 children, many whose families work in and live around the dump. After working in a building at the dump's entrance, the local government provided FESNOJIV with a building designed specifically for the community's musical needs, including beautifully hung artwork throughout the center.

Wherever we go, nucleo directors and staff have opened their doors to us, taken time to be interviewed, shared their programs and invited us to watch their classes. In return, Rebecca and I were thrilled to be able to share some of the musical songs, games and dances that my students back in Juneau, Alaska request over and over again. With Rebecca translating in Spanish, we taught at each nucleo and held an evening workshop for teachers from all over the state - some whom had traveled over an hour to get to Maracay. Thank you to both Alvaro and Rebecca for translating several of the songs into Spanish.

I'd like to dedicate this 3-minute video documenting our cultural exchange to the incredible teachers of the nucleos in Aragua, as well as to the staff and students at Glacier Valley Elementary School who will recognize the tune of these songs now sung in Spanish.

Teacher Workshop Participants in Maracay, March 2010

Week 19: Latin Music - A Common Thread

2010-03-14T18:38:00.000-08:00

After two weeks in Venezuela, the Abreu Fellows have visited many nucleos, attended concerts and met with key FESNOJIV administrators and teachers in Caracas, Guarico and Miranda who keep this incredible network of music centers operating and growing throughout Venezuela. Now in our third week, we've split into three groups to travel to different areas of the country. First stop:

State of Aragua: David, Lorrie & Rebecca; State of Guarico: Alvaro, Christine, Katie & Dan; and State of Merida: Dantes, Jonathan & Stan

My team is based in Aragua's capital of Maracay where we have visited four nucleos: La Victoria, Cagua, Maracay and San Vicente. In total, since arriving to Venezuela we have observed nine nucleos, all unique and reflective of their communities.

One surprising thread that I have seen running through all of the nucleos is Latin music. I was prepared to observe high caliber orchestras playing classical repertoire (and wasn't disappointed), but didn't expect to see equal attention paid to Latin classical and folk music. Without fail, every nucleo was incorporating some aspect of Latin influence - whether through dance, song, instrumentation or orchestral pieces. The joy, energy and enthusiasm that the students express when playing this music are contagious.

I've tried to capture this spirit in a short iMovie representing the nucleos I've visited. In less than 4 minutes, you will see fourteen unique experiences representing ages from three to thirty including:

youth choirs singing works by Venezuelan Alberto Grau, who incorporates movement into his compositions;
an electric cuatro as part of a duet;
Venezuelan folk music ensembles playing traditional instruments - Criolla harp, cuatro, mandolas, guitar, mandolin and maracas;
the White Hands Choir, composed of deaf students, who sign the words their peers are singing (See Christin's blog for more information on the special needs program in Guarico);
dancing violinists, cellists and horns and:
a 500-member performance of the Venezuelan national anthem integrating all of the diverse music programs offered in Guarico.

Muchas gracias, FESNOJIV, staff, faculty and students for inspiring all of us! Viva La Musica!

What about Percussion, Woodwinds and Brass?

2010-03-07T18:07:00.000-09:00

A reader asked in an earlier blog, "At what point do students start learning wind and percussion instruments?" This has been a big question on the minds of the fellows as well. Back in Boston, we'd hear from varying sources that kids might start on brass and woodwinds as early as age six, but what about the challenges of developing lungs and missing front teeth?

During our visits to the nucleos of Montalban and La Rinconada, I asked about this topic and was given answers specific to these two sites. One thing we are learning from our time here in Caracas is that nothing is written in stone and each nucleo is unique, so I preface by saying that this information is specific to Montalban and La Rinconada at this particular moment in time. El Sistema is flexible and continually responds to its students through a collaborative teaching process (see previous posting on this subject). Dantes and Jonathan also posted responses to Dr. Abreu's statement of "El Sistema as no system" in their blogs and both are worthwhile reading.

Recorder and Choir: Laying the Foundation

Percussion is a part of the early childhood classes from the beginning where they learn rhythmic and melodic notation and solfege in a fixed do system. Students also learn to play the recorder as early as five years old to help with intonation and pitch discrimination. The recorder serves as a precursor to the wind instruments. Generally, students don't begin playing a brass or woodwind instrument until they have their permanent front teeth - so it depends on the child.

Oftentimes, it's the recorder that helps students learn to sing in tune. Half the students will sing, while the other half accompanies them on the recorder or everyone plays the first verse and sings the second. It's in these early childhood classes where the musical foundation is laid and discipline, focus and attention are developed to prepare for the demands of the orchestra rehearsal. Students who enter the nucleo at an older age need to sing in choir for one or two years before starting an instrument.

Children Changing Instruments:

Many of the fellows wondered what the process was regarding a child's wish to switch instruments. Rodrigo Guerrero explained that El Sistema allows children to change instruments, but the decision is taken seriously. Here are the steps:

Teacher talks with the student to find out if his or her decision is based on a physical or attitudinal change and is more than just a casual thought.
Student and instructor discuss the reasons with the nucleo director.
If an instrument is available, the child has a trial period with the new instrument.
Ultimately, the goal is student engagement.

And engagement is what we are seeing at all levels throughout the nucleo. As these young musicians advance in skill level, there is an ensemble ready to meet them. In my posting on Montalban, I documented the orchestras offered there. In this video, you'll see a progression from the early musicianship class and two levels of recorder, to a choir and an advanced wind ensemble. It's a short video, so I hope you'll watch the very last clip of a recorder solo from a 5 year-old at Montalban.

Week 18: The Abreu Fellows Meet Their Namesake

2010-03-06T15:21:00.000-09:00

As we travel to different nucleos throughout Caracas, we are discovering that each site is unique and flexibly adapts its planning to meet the needs of its children and community. In fact, Dr. Abreu himself explained that El Sistema is not a system, but rather a living, breathing program that continues to grow and develop through the collaboration of many generations of its teachers.

The process may vary, but the goal set forth by Dr. Abreu is constant: "creating better human beings." This mission drives the decisions of its teachers and permeates the walls of every nucleo we visit. We hear it in the impassioned voices of the young nucleo directors and teachers (not much older than their students) and see it in the determined faces of children in the orchestra focused so intently on the music that they seem unaware of the crammed spaces and stifling heat.

Folks who had visited Venezuela and its nucleos told us the experience would be life-changing and now I see why: it's become commonplace to enter a room of a nucleo and be deeply affected by music played in ensemble by hundreds of kids. Each nucleo is living out Dr. Abreu's conviction that "the culture for the poor cannot be a poor culture."

When we met Dr. Abreu last week, he confessed that he had created a scandal when he first insisted that El Sistema be enrolled in the Ministry of Social Development, rather than the Ministry of Culture. He expressed to the President of Venezuela at that time that he wanted only one thing: "To have the state acknowledge that this (El Sistema) is a social program and as an artist, I demand that my art be dignified with the mission of creating better human beings."

His teachers are living proof of that. Having lived through El Sistema as children, they are now the young teachers and directors of the 180 nucleos across Venezuela. Their collaborative teaching spirit creates an environment of constant learning and sharing, which is why we won't find a how-to-manual here. Dr. Abreu left us with words I imagine he shares with any new nucleo director or teacher:

We will not give you a manual or dictate what you should do. What we want you to do is to live with us for a while in the most chaotic possible way. See schools with different programs and look at the interactions of the orchestras and their community so that you can see how this happens, make a concept of your own and find a way to incorporate yourself as you see fit into the process.

Thank you, Dr. Abreu and FESNOJIV for opening the doors of your nucleos to the Abreu Fellows. Your musical "chaos" is restructuring the way we think.

Week 17: Montalban - Witnessing Support Every Step of the Way

2010-03-01T02:42:00.000-09:00

After visiting the El Sistema nucleos of La Rinconada and Montalban, I feel as though I have witnessed the power of what Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone terms the "conveyor belt" strategy. This strategy focuses on providing children with a continuous network of support from infancy through high school so that progress made in one program is not lost in a gap of service between the next.

From La Rinconada's Baby Vivaldi program for parents and their 2-year olds to the many nucleo youth orchestras varying in age range and skill, the goals among staff at all levels were quite clear: meet the children where they are and provide opportunities throughout their time in the nucleo to develop tools for life and to feel a sense of advancement through hard work.

At Montalban, we moved from one room to the next, listening to the incredible performances of the different ensembles and experiencing first hand how each orchestra built and expanded upon the skills of the previous one. In just a matter of one hour, we had traveled through the musical life of a child attending Montalban from ages six through seventeen!

Here is a short iMovie I created to document this progression:

On Saturday, we returned to Montalban to watch the early childhood classes for ages three through six, a component of El Sistema that many of us are convinced is largely responsible for the high level of discipline and musical skill we are seeing in the older grades. As Frank di Pollo, one of the founding members of El Sistema put it, "That is the system - teaching 3-year olds. That's what is most important."

James Heckman, Nobel Prize-winning University of Chicago Economics Professor, couldn't agree more. His research is referenced in Whatever It Takes, an account of the Harlem Children's Zone and validates many of El Sistema's objectives. He found that social skills such as persistence, attentiveness and impulse control when combined at an early age "help create capable and productive citizens."

Much like we saw at La Rinconada, these young students were developing those same skills through play: waiting for the right moment in the song to shake their egg maracas, listening to the first few notes of a piece played on the recorder to see who could guess it's title and always making music together as a group. We saw all of these skills played out in more sophisticated ways in the older grades as intense focus on the music and conductor, waiting quietly for considerable amounts of time for another section to rehearse and playing passionately together as an orchestra.

El Sistema has hit the mark on so many levels: from investing in early childhood and instrumental music to offering a consistent "conveyor belt" of services through after-school hours and ensembles that encourage children to advance.

After gathering research from economists, sociologists, psychologists and neuroscientists for Whatever It Takes, author Paul Tough writes in the afterword why a program like the Harlem Children's Zone is so promising:

To change the trajectory of a poor child in an inner-city neighborhood, this research shows, you need to: intervene early in the child’s life, continue to intervene throughout adolescence; give him extra time in school and extra support outside of school; involve his parents if possible but be prepared to compensate for their absence; focus on improving his cognitive skills but also nurture his noncognitive, social and emotional skills.

This quote could very well be about El Sistema.

Thank you, FESNOJIV, Rodrigo Guerrero and the staff and students from La Rinconada and Montalban for opening your doors to your classrooms, curriculum and our questions!

Week 16: La Rinconada: El Sistema's Oldest Nucleo

2010-02-23T02:15:00.000-09:00

For the next couple of days, the Abreu Fellows will be visiting La Rinconada Nucleo, which is located in the southern part of Caracas and was the first nucleo established by El Sistema in the 1970's. La Rinconada emphasizes early childhood programs, including one for toddlers and moms and a percussion class for children with special needs.

When we arrived, a group of 4-year old children had just moved from the Paper Orchestra to playing a real stringed instrument. All of the fellows are fascinated by the Paper Orchestra concept. These beautifully homemade instruments are created by the child and parent to help develop respect, care and discipline for the stringed instrument that the child will eventually play. The paper instruments also allows kids to safely practice motor skills needed for bowing and handling, before the real instrument is placed in their hands. Students make the instruments at home with their parents for one month and then play them at the nucleo for two months leading up to a final performance. Then they are ready to move on to the real thing!

Much of the pedagogy at La Rinconada developed out of practical need and trial and error. The talented teachers here constantly create and revise their teaching practice to meet the needs of their children, many who come from the outlying barrios. In fact the Paper Orchestra concept was born out of just such a practical need: after waiting months for the real instruments to arrive, the paper orchestra was created to get instruments into the hands of eagerly awaiting children.

I had a chance to observe two classes of musicianship for 3 and 4 year olds. Movement and percussion instruments were built in to each song, with deliberate moments of silence, "rest position" and taking turns to develop discipline, focus and listening skills. One of the teachers explained that the primary goal of these musicianship classes is to develop discipline. After hearing from some of the fellows how unbelievably focused the 6 - 9 year old students were during an hour and a half orchestra rehearsal next door, I believe the teachers are accomplishing their goal.

Here is a short documentary from Michael Uy who worked at La Rinconada for two weeks in 2008. He shares his experiences there and provides a wonderful summary and visual backdrop to this inspiring place.

Meeting Two of El Sistema's Ambassadors

2010-02-22T05:23:00.000-09:00

Where do you get to meet the world's leading conductors Gustavo Dudamel and Claudio Abbado on the same weekend? In Caracas, of course, celebrating the 35th anniversary of El Sistema. Both conductors are deeply committed to this inspiring youth music program and see youth mentorship as an essential part of a professional orchestra’s work. Their hope is that more orchestras throughout the US and Europe will take up the same charge and understand how important the musical development of youth are to the future of orchestras and symphonic music. Dudamel and Abbdado give their time and expertise to these young orchestras and are working to develop El Sistema programs in Los Angeles and Italy, respectively.

Dudamel powerfully articulated the LA Phil’s commitment to youth music programs when he opened the LA Philharmonic season conducting students alongside LA Phil musicians. This gesture earned him ABC’s Person of the Week: Gustavo Dudamel's First Concert With the L.A. Philharmonic - ABC News

The fellows hope to enroll more American symphonies in this important work. I was honored to meet Dudamel after an incredible performance of the Simon Bolivar A Orchestra (consisting of El Sistema teachers and founding members) and was able to share with him my plans to work with the community of Juneau, Alaska, to start an El Sistema-inspired program there.

In keeping with El Sistema's philosophy of early access to instrumental instruction, our hope is to pilot an initiative at Glacier Valley Elementary School where all of the kindergarten classes will learn Suzuki violin alongside their teachers during the school day. I just wrote my first grant proposal to help fund the purchase of a classroom set of violins and am keeping my fingers crossed!

I was able to present Dudamel with an Alaskan pin to signify that his advocacy of El Sistema USA is expanding to a northern neighbor in Juneau, Alaska.

Maestro Abbado was kind enough to meet some of the fellows after a rehearsal with the Simon Bolivar B Orchestra, which will perform Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 next Wednesday night. When I shared with the concertmaster of the Simon Bolivar B Orchestra how expressive and passionate the orchestra played together during the rehearsal, moving like waves across the stage, he said, "You haven't seen anything yet. Just wait for Wednesday night's performance." Here's a photo from their rehearsal. It's hard to capture the intensity and energy behind their playing in a still photo, but I can testify that I have never seen anything like it before in my life! I can't wait for Wednesday night!

My colleague, Christine Witkowski, posted a beautiful reflection on the Saturday morning performance by the Teresa Carreno Youth Orchestra, made up of El Sistema musicians ages 12 - 16. I couldn't express our experience more eloquently. Please read her blog, Key Changes, describing this incredible orchestra.

El Sistema Celebrates 35 Years

2010-02-19T15:21:00.000-09:00

We arrived in Caracas just in time to celebrate El Sistema's 35th year anniversary. Tonight's the big night! Dudamel conducts the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra and there are rumors we may be able to meet both Maestro Dudamel and Dr. Abreu! With all of this excitement, the fellows are still very grounded in our purpose here in Venezuela. We are here because of a wish Dr. Abreu made when he won the 2009 TED Prize:

"I wish that you help to create and document a special training program for 50 gifted young musicians passionate about their art and social justice and dedicated to bringing El Sistema to the United States and other countries."

With the accomplishments Jose Abreu has made in Venezuela, I have no doubt that his wish will come true. The Center for Social Action Through Music (pictured above) is a physical testimony of his work. FESNOJIV (El Sistema) created this building to provide quality space for youth music academic programs especially those at-risk. This impressive center has 94 rehearsal rooms and two performance halls - the Simón Bolívar Hall, which seats 1,100 and the Concert Hall N° 2 with a seating capacity of 400. The walls, floors and ceiling are soundproofed and rooms are built with flexibility in mind, so that a meeting room can quickly be transformed into a performance or rehearsal space.

Here's a slide show of the different spaces this beautiful center offers:

Rodrigo Guerrero, International Affairs Coordinator of FESNOJIV, gave us a tour of the center and shared Dr. Abreu's goal for expansion:

With six buildings like the center approved for other cities in Venezuela and 24 new nucleos scheduled to open next year, FESNOJIV is accomplishing Dr. Abreu's goal of providing 1 million students access to quality music experiences in their community.

Week 15: Arriving in Venezuela!

2010-02-18T05:41:00.000-09:00

The moment the Abreu Fellows have been waiting for has finally arrived: we landed in Caracas to begin our two-month period of observation and study at various El Sistema sites throughout Venezuela.
As guests of FESNOVJIV (El Sistema) or the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela, the fellows will stay together as a group in Caracas for the first 10 days and then will spread out in teams of 2 or 3 to visit three different nucleos in outlying areas to continue our observations, as well as help teach.

There are 180 nucleos operating in Venezuela, which are community-based and house choral and orchestral programs. Although the itinerary may change, Jonathan Govias and I are scheduled to visit the following communities, each for a two-week period: Maracaibo, Barquisimeto (home of Gustavo Dudamel) and San Felipe. Tomorrow we'll visit the Center for Social Action through Music and watch the Simon Bolivar Orchestra perform Mahler's Symphony No. 9 conducted by Dudamel! Until then...

Week 14: Kids are Kids

2010-02-13T18:56:00.000-09:00

The most difficult part of being in the Abreu fellowship has been the lack of contact with kids. I really miss the students at Glacier Valley Elementary School and have been searching for opportunities to work with children while in Boston. A good friend of mine, Irene Smalls is a children's book author and volunteers at a local Boston school in Rochester: Nathan Hale Elementary School. Irene created a program called Literacise, which integrates children's literature with physical movement, and she shares her lessons with classes at Nathan Hale.

Irene arranged for me to visit the school so that I could work with some of the classes. As soon as I entered the school grounds, I knew Nathan Hale was a very special place. Volunteers greeted me at the door, positive messages adorned brightly painted walls and children's artwork hung proudly throughout the school. The principal, Sandy Mitchell-Woods, is the driving force behind this incredible school. She works alongside the community and parents to bring a variety of experiences to the students and was awarded Massachusetts Principal of the Year for her efforts.

I decided to bring one of the Remo drums along with me on the subway and bus to share with the kids. My first thought entering one of the kindergarten classes was: would this school population of predominantly African-American and Latino students respond differently to the way I teach than those of Glacier Valley consisting of mostly Alaskan Native, Asian-Pacific and Caucasian students? After visiting three different classes that morning, I came away reaffirmed that "Kids are Kids" and that lessons filled with challenge, joy, teamwork, humor, goal-setting and a sense of accomplishment appeal to both child and adult learners.

After we mastered the first skill, I'd announce, "Congratulations, you have reached Level I in drumming." The question from the class that immediately followed was, "What's Level II?" and with the answer came an eagerness from the class to achieve it. From sitting up properly, holding a steady beat to tapping out a complex rhythm while singing an African song, the class was determined to reach higher levels of skill mastery. By the end of the lesson, they had reached Level XII and you should have seen the pride in their faces. We ended the session giving everyone a chance to improvise. Here's a picture of one of the students - his face tells it all.

Thank you, Sandy Mitchell-Wood, Irene Smalls and the entire Nathan Hale Elementary School community for welcoming me into your school. Also, thank you Will Schmid and Remo Belli for your gift of drums, which continues to reach others beyond the NEC community.

Week 11: World Music Drumming

2010-01-25T06:44:00.000-09:00

World Music Drumming! What a way to start our spring semester of classes – filling the New England Conservatory halls with joyful rhythms and song. In an earlier post I shared the news of a generous donation of drums and curriculum from Will Schmid and Remo Belli. The 40-instrument World Drumming set arrived right before the holidays and the fellows were eager to break them in! Will Schmid’s World Music Drum curriculum supported by Remo embraces many of the principles of El Sistema: group ensemble, use of complex repertoire and folk music from the Americas and joyful music-making.

Whether adults or kids - drumming brings people together. When I started a before-school drumming club at Glacier Valley Elementary School in Juneau, the sounds of the drums had a Pied Piper effect. Children from the playground would gather around the music windows and teachers stopped at the door, all to witness the phenomenon of children completely absorbed in a drum circle. Drumming is communal, inviting and accessible. The same experience occurred here at NEC. Once the fellows started drumming in the basement of Jordan Hall, students would stop and curiously peek through the classroom door windows. Our drum circle quickly expanded to include different constituents from NEC - student, alum and Jordan Hall security guard - all brought together by the sheer joy of playing music together.

Music has that effect. Rather than having to talk about the ideals of diversity, inclusiveness and cooperation; music allows a community to experience it. Just imagine what it would be like if our schools and businesses began the day drumming together.

Thank you, Will Schmid and Remo Belli, for bringing your gift of music to NEC! I am honored to share your music with the community of Boston and am looking forward to attending your World Music Drumming workshops this summer. I took the Level I drumming workshop last summer in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin and highly recommend it. In my next posting, I'll share the out-reach drum workshops I gave in Boston and Los Angeles.

Come Join Us: Become an Abreu Fellow for 2010-11

2010-01-19T04:47:00.000-09:00

How would you like to join this ever-growing network of musicians and music educators committed to making instrumental ensemble and its life-long benefits accessible to all children? Well, here's your chance! The 2010-11 Abreu Fellowship application is now available online.

When I first learned of the Abreu Fellowship, I thought it was too good to be true. Where can you find a program that offers such a unique blend of skills in music, education, leadership and organizational development all under the roof of such a prestigious music institution as the New England Conservatory? The program has lived up to its mission and continues to impress me. We have had a roster of incredible presenters during the fall semester, and the spring semester includes two months in Venezuela, where the fellows will observe, teach and experience first hand how music transcends cultural, economic and political barriers.

If you are a postgraduate musician or music educator “passionate for their art and for social justice” and are dedicated to developing El Sistema programs in the US, please consider applying.

The deadline is April 1st. For more information please visit: http://www.elsistemausa.org

Also, check out the new El Sistema USA Ning site, an online community forum where folks interested in El Sistema can share stories, ideas and thoughts about this inspiring music model for social change. Come join us!

Week 10: Finishing Our First Semester

2009-12-21T14:21:00.000-09:00

I can't believe that the first semester has ended and we're only two months away from traveling to Venezuela! I'll be spending my break practicing Spanish and reading some of the recommended books from presenters listed on the sidebar of my blog. Classes resume mid-January, so my next blog posting probably will appear around then. In the meantime, TED put together a video highlighting the Abreu Fellows' first semester and have it posted on their website along with some Q & A from each of us. The video is embedded below.

Thank you, TED and the New England Conservatory, for an incredible year! Happy Holidays!

el Sistema USA (SD) from Rustbelt Films on Vimeo.