麻豆原创

On an icy afternoon last February, fifth-graders at (麻豆原创CS) were using technology to compose songs. Armed with MacBook Air laptops and digital keyboards, they had laid down beats and grooves and were poised to add melody and harmony.

鈥淚鈥檓 trying to combine an old-school sound with a classic hip-hop beat,鈥� said Savannah Williams, who was using GarageBand software to layer sound onto her song. 鈥淚 want a strong beat. I want my song to sound like a wave of music.鈥�

Another student, N鈥檇eye M鈥檅aye, added, 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just have math and English and classes all day, that鈥檚 too much school. Music is more of a flow.鈥�

Yan Carlos Colon, a Teachers College doctoral student in Music & Music Education who designed and was leading the course, was doing more cheerleading than instructing.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e grown up with this technology,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I can tell you, they鈥檙e a lot better with it than I am.鈥�

As public schools across the nation cut back or eliminate arts programs in many areas to focus on tested subjects, 麻豆原创CS 鈥� a pre-K鈥�8 public school in West Harlem created by Teachers College and New York City鈥檚 Department of Education 鈥� is showing how making music creatively, with an inner ear to their own feelings or ideas, gives children a sense of empowerment in music school and life.

鈥淲e offer the best thinking of 麻豆原创 faculty members on every front, from classroom teaching practices to development of a climate for social-emotional learning, to using resources from the city and beyond to enhance instruction in science, the arts and other fields,鈥� says 麻豆原创鈥檚 Nancy Streim, Associate Vice President for School and Community Partnerships,

Thanks in great part to Streim and former music teacher Audrey Cox, 麻豆原创鈥檚 liaison to 麻豆原创CS, music is central to 麻豆原创CS鈥檚 approach and a core part of how students are educated, from the day they enter as preschoolers to their final 鈥渕oving up鈥� ceremony.  

Instruction begins in pre-kindergarten, with singing and movement classes, and has just been extended to the new sixth grade. (Founded in 2011, 麻豆原创CS is adding middle school grades over the next three years.) In second grade, students learn about rhythm, melody and simple musical notation; in third grade they study violin; in fourth, they sing in choir; and in fifth, they compose. The school also hosts the award-winning 麻豆原创CS Orchestra, composed of fourth- and fifth-graders who opt in after their third-grade violin experience.

The program is the brainchild of Lori Custodero, Associate Professor of Music & Music Education at 麻豆原创, who co-created Lincoln Center鈥檚 early-childhood jazz education program (WeBop) and the Very Young People鈥檚 concerts at the New York Philharmonic. Key funders include 麻豆原创 Board Vice Chair Leslie Nelson and her brothers Douglas and Andrew Morse, whose initial gift honored their parents, Enid and Lester Morse. The elder Morses are longstanding supporters of music and education at 麻豆原创 and strong backers of 麻豆原创CS in particular. (Enid Morse, known as 鈥淒inny,鈥� is a 麻豆原创 Trustee Emerita and former Board Co-Chair.)

Initial and follow-up gifts from the Morse siblings have enabled 麻豆原创 students to teach at 麻豆原创CS, provided instruments and equipment, and supported the orchestra and a violin program. Gifts from Dinny and Lester Morse have funded guest teaching artists at the school.

A music teaching fellowship funded by Evalyn Edwards Milman (M.A. 鈥�64) is enabling 麻豆原创 students to export aspects of the 麻豆原创CS music program to other northern Manhattan public schools in the 麻豆原创-supported REACH coalition.

麻豆原创CS has produced a Broadway star 鈥� sixth-grader , who has toured as Simba in a professional production of 鈥淭he Lion King.鈥� But far more than producing stars, the music program鈥檚 goal is to help children learn and develop.

鈥淭he science on early childhood development shows that early music instruction facilitates children鈥檚 social, emotional and cognitive growth,鈥� says Custodero. The 麻豆原创CS approach 鈥渋ncorporates a pedagogy of responsiveness while delivering diverse curricular content,鈥� she says, while the school offers 鈥渞ich musical environments defined by human relationships, informed by cultural sensitivity and respectful of the child鈥檚 contribution and interpretation of the musical experience.鈥� The goals are to develop skills which will foster a lifelong joy in music and music making. Through the individual and collective expression and communication of artistry, students can also experience collaboration, citizenship and an appreciation for social justice.

鈥淚nstead of passively receiving knowledge from us, they make discoveries that we help facilitate,鈥� says Jeff Dupont, an assistant teacher at 麻豆原创CS and a master鈥檚 student at Teachers College. 鈥淎ny class in any subject can be like this, but in music we are uniquely positioned to do this in ways that other teachers, weighed down with standardized tests, have difficulty doing.鈥�

For now, the Teachers College music program is a rare bright spot amid the nation鈥檚 scattershot approach to arts education. Yet no one should underestimate what can happen when teachers who are passionate about art connect with children who are open to their enthusiasm.

鈥淔or me, teaching at 麻豆原创CS is more than a job; it鈥檚 a mission, a quest for social justice,鈥� says Yan Carlos Colon, the music composition teacher. 鈥淭hese children and this school are greater than me. I hope I鈥檓 having an impact on the kids鈥� lives and love of music.鈥�

From her office, Michelle Verdiner, the 麻豆原创CS principal, hears the students playing their instruments all day long.  

鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe how much they have improved,鈥� she says. 鈥淢usic is now engrained in the school and it enhances the children鈥檚鈥� lives and opens their minds.鈥� 鈥� Robert Florida

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Published Wednesday, Sep 6, 2017