Lessons Learned
Why
Music?
They
were from the far east side of town, and we were from the far west. Our lives, our experiences, and our schedules
were worlds apart despite the few miles that separated us. It’s not that we
couldn’t have been friends; it’s just that our paths would never have crossed.
That is, until “The Project,” that cast us all on the same team, transitioned
from dream to enactment. Two very different fifth grade worlds were about to
collide and in that collision, be called upon to create and then perform a rap
depicting the story of our city, our shared story. It was to be a part of a much larger original
musical work entitled, “Hometown History,” and was dreamed and written to be
shared by children to an audience of all neighbors from all neighborhoods of
our hometown. It was to serve as a big
affirming hug to a city besieged by violence, unemployment, and fear. It was to be just one step toward building a
bridge of hope and trust between neighbors. The first meeting of the fifth graders occurred at the west side school and although
the air was filled with a certain amount of tentativeness, a pinch of suspicion, and a good dollop of
curiosity, the lengthy laundry list of tasks to be accomplished while together
served to quickly focus us all beyond our piddily concerns and doubts. We
attended to the business of getting the job done and that demanded immediate
cooperative effort; all hands on deck, so to speak. We worked exceedingly hard,
we learned, shared, collaborated, laughed, perfected, discussed, fell short,
tried again, cheered each other on, applauded ourselves, supported, encouraged,
questioned, explained, tried harder, kept practicing, saw progress, high-fived, and, after a couple of hours, enjoyed a pizza
lunch together with these precious new friends.
The next few weeks were committed to practicing on our own at our
respective schools. The second meeting
occurred at the east side school, and the air was filled with excitement,
anticipation and warmth as we reconvened our awesome fifth grade team. The local news media showed up to capture the
joy of this creative team of fifth grade bridge builders as they zealously
rehearsed their proud rap, and sang, danced, played, and laughed as all
children should and do from every side of town in every town around the globe.
Music brought us together. Music brought balm to hometown afflicted with fear
and distrust. Music brought laughter, peace, joy and friendship. Music built a
bridge of hope and possibility. Music always does. Music levels the playing field and invites
each one to play. Music is a universal language that transcends circumstances
and disengages exclusivity. Music links
us, binds us, welcomes us, and calls us into a shared joy. Why music? Because it heals our hearts and
makes us better.
If
you, as a parent or a teacher, need sweet, heart-warming original children’s
music to bring joy, esprit de corps, and celebration to your family or to your
classroom, please visit the Teachers Pay Teachers store, One Arts Infusion
Collaborative, to find simple sheet music and mp4 files of seasonal and curricularly-relevant songs.
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