My students are full of creative energy. They love coming to music class twice a week to sing, play instruments, and dance. Many of them perform at least once a year for our school community and families.
Our school's Orff-Schulwerk based curriculum is known for its highly creative, hands-on approach to music education.
All students are involved in speaking, singing, creating, improvising, moving, and playing instruments.
Orff-Schulwerk develops musical skills through imitation, experimentation and personal expression. My students begin with what they naturally do best: play! My student-centered classroom builds musical skills and knowledge through playing with concepts and discovering music through speech, songs, and drama. During the time they spend in my classroom, they become confident and competent musicians and composers.
My Project
World Music Drumming Level III is a teacher training workshop in African and Caribbean music. In this workshop, I will learn drumming and singing from the Ga, Akan and Ewe peoples of Ghana, gyil xylophone ensembles from Northern Ghana, Ghanaian flute playing, adkendum gourds, and Caribbean drumming and singing. This workshop is taught by Sowah Mensah, a Ghanaian Master Drummer and a Professor of Music at Macalaster College and the University of St. Thomas, both in Minnesota, and by Josh Ryan, founder Africa -> West Percussion and Professor of Music at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio.
The workshop is incredibly challenging.
It will be a fantastic opportunity for me to improve myself as a musician. I will learn many new pieces of music, play many different instruments from around the world, sing in different languages, and learn dances of people who live on the other side of the world. By attending this workshop I will learn much about the cultures of the peoples of Ghana and the different countries in the Caribbean. I can pass this knowledge and my newfound drumming, singing and dance skills on to my students to heighten their knowledge and skills of singing and playing African and Caribbean music.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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