A Reflection on Summer Music Enrichment Program

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 15:50:35 -0500

I pushed open Walker West Music Academy’s big red door for the first time two months ago. I’ve lived in the St. Paul area my entire life and I’d never even seen that door before this June.

I was first connected to the Academy through a friend of a family member who had heard of my experience in fundraising. Walker West had never had an intern before, let alone one with the main purpose of organizing a fundraising event. So I sat down with Peter Leggett, the Academy’s Executive Director, and we laid out a plan for my internship. There would be administrative work, marketing and advertising, plus everything that goes into organizing one fundraising event.

But then: would I be available to work as an assistant at the Summer Music Enrichment Program this July?

Let’s get this straight. I am a Comparative Literature major. I played the clarinet in elementary and middle school but haven’t picked up more than a pencil or paintbrush since the ninth grade. I listen to music, and I don’t have great taste at that. What help could I be to a music program when I myself haven’t even touched most of the instruments that were to be taught?

I could bag breakfasts and lunches for the kids and move them from class to class. There would be absolutely no musicality required for my assistant-to-the-assistants-of-the-staff position.

I’ll admit, I regretted accepting the job the first day I had to wake up at 5:00am just to get ready and to the Academy in time to bag all the breakfasts. It was my summer too, and this job was taking a lot of effort just to feed children for three weeks.

But then there was the first time I heard five year-old Casey Jr. play the piano; and and on the second day when Noah’s mom told me he had developed a crush on “Miss Jessica”; and the first time I served apples instead of oranges and had to cut all of them up with a plastic knife because the kids’ front teeth hadn’t grown in enough to bite into them.

From the first day when there obviously weren’t enough tables for the shy students to sit separate from the other stranger students, to the last day when there weren’t tables big enough to hold the groups of friends that had been formed, I was able to watch these kids flourish musically and socially in my three weeks of passing out brown-bag meals. My only job was to fill their stomachs in the morning and afternoon so they had energy enough to play the drums and pluck the violin, but they did more to nourish me than I did them.

I had never worked in an arts camp or with children so young before the Summer Music Enrichment Program. I’ve had plenty of experience teaching and tutoring, but only in an academic setting and only to peers around my own age. To have experienced both for the first time in the Walker West setting has been a privilege I’ll never forget.

WWMA is unique in its approach to introducing youth to music: I never saw a single line of written notes or theory used in teaching. The most technical teachers got was in whether the students should put their third or fifth finger on the key or string. Even as an academy of music, Walker West wasn’t interested in having these kids perform Bach on organs for their parents after three weeks. The sole purpose of showing the students how to bang an African drum is to ensure that among all the television and video games, interest in the most innate of creative outlets can still be sparked. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t remember which hole of the recorder to cover next; all that counted was that these kids realized that they can make something from nothing, and that something was something that could be felt and created whenever they wanted—it didn’t have to be bought and was entirely their own creation. Once a student figured out how to make noise with an instrument, there was no stopping him/her long enough to even learn the few notes being taught.

This summer program’s goal wasn’t to produce the next clarinetist for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. The only goal the teachers and staff had—and succeeded in achieving—was to teach these kids the power of their own creativity. It didn’t matter that they were being taught this with musical instruments, only that it was being taught. There’s no way to ensure anymore that this spark will be lit in kids their age as more music and art programs are cut from public education. When Walker West Music Academy says in its mission statement that “Walker West is a quality, well-rounded community school of music as well as an outreach institution whose artistic purpose is committed to the recognition and celebration of diverse culture through the study of their unique expressions and contributions to the language of music,” it ain’t lying.

Maybe it’s the literature major in me, and I’m not sure it was intentional, but the musical facet of WWMA always comes secondary in the construction of of the sentences in this mission statement. Walker West is first and foremost a “well-rounded community school” and “outreach institution” with the “artistic purpose” of “recognizi[ng] and celebrati[ng]” culture “through the study of their unique expressions.” These “expressions” could be paintings, fiction, landscaping, etc. but the point remains: Walker West’s mission—especially through the Summer Music Enrichment Program—is to ignite the fire of creativity in the very youth that will build the future of their community. They are born with every material they need (fingers to push down keys, vocal chords to sing lyrics) and only need to be given that first instruction on how to use them.

This was most obvious to me in watching how the students’ social skills grew in the short three weeks I served them food. I supervised them during the most social times of the day: shared meals and organized filing from one class to an other. These times depended on the students’ coordination with one another; they had to learn names, ask if they could sit next to each other, form lines with leaders to follow. The parts of camp I helped them with had nothing to do with music and yet were the most illustrative of their growth and development at the camp.

The best example was one student who was particularly attached to me. He constantly craved attention of adults, threw temper tantrums around every corner, lied and made up stories about every discussion topic, and interrupted other students whenever they tried to include themselves in conversations. He always wanted to sit alone during meal times and tell me his stories. He even refused to open his own cereal and milk because he knew he could get my attention to open them for him.

He wouldn’t start kindergarten until this coming fall so it was understandable that he hadn’t yet learned those social integration skills. Still, it was becoming difficult for me to even do my job with how much attention he demanded for himself, so I started a little experiment the second week: every day I would ask one of the shier students to sit next to him. There were many kids his age with the same problem but with the side-effect of being too quiet and timid to change. I would ask one of these students to sit next to the first boy. When the latter would begin to tell me a story, I would comment how interesting it is and ask him to share it with the student next to him. It would be a shame if so-and-so had to miss out on such an enthralling tale.

I can’t say that by the end of the third week both students’ troubles had been fixed, but I did see a definite change. I still had to instigate conversation between this one student and a shy one, but I no longer had to ask a shy student to sit next to him. I still had to ask this student to share his story with other students, but once he would begin he would forget he was talking to me. There were no more tirades of whiny “Miss Jessica!”s from him during meal times, and there was always a shy student brave enough to whisper a “PleasecanIpleasesitnexttoyouplease?”

It was only three weeks. There’s no promise that either this attention-groveling student or even one timid student came out of my experiment having learned anything. Like Walker West Music Academy, however, I hope and hope that I was able to kindle even a fraction of growth in one of them.

Most of this reflection has been on what (I hope) the students learned from me and one another during the Summer Music Enrichment Program. I began by saying that they “nourished” me more than I did them.

It all came together on the last day of the program after the students’ final performance for their families and the Hallie Q. Brown community center. After they had finished belting out “Man in the Mirror,” all of the certificates had been handed out, and photographs had been taken, students and parents started coming up to me to say thank you to the breakfast and lunch lady.

It was only when I started giving out hugs and saying “I’ll miss you” to the students that I realized how much they have done for me. I had been putting in so much work and energy to this final performance that I hadn’t had time yet to grasp the idea that it was all over. What would it mean to never see this group of kids again? To never learn from Ava how to play “Hot Cross Buns” on the recorder? To never hear Aten-wa tell me excitedly that today he got to use the bow in violin class?

I thought my purpose at this camp was to slide on latex gloves and put ham sandwiches in brown paper bags. In the second week I saw that I could teach the students something even though as first-time students at the Academy, they had more musical talent than me.

On the very last minutes of our very last day together, the students revealed to me that I was the one learning from them. This all sounds too happily-ever-after for a reflection on a three week-long summer music camp, but I can’t help it. SMEP hopefully inspired something within each of its students, and each of its students without question inspired something in me.

In an interview on the first day of camp, co-founder Grant West called SMEP the “foundation” of the Academy. I knew the annual summer program was important because it focused its attention on the youngest members of the community, but I couldn’t see why a mere three week-long camp could represent all of Walker West. I’ve been organizing a fundraising event for this Academy for over a month now, and I didn’t even know what I was raising funds for?

It may have only been three weeks. Most of the students probably won’t come back next summer, and even less will grow up to be renowned musicians.

But what would this Academy, this community, this city, this world be worth if that first spark were not ignited?

Don't forget to check out WWMA's Soundcloud page!

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:28:39 -0500

Don't forget to check out WWMA's Soundcloud page!

Rain, rain go away...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:28:00 -0500

Not even a thunderstorm can dampen our fun in the Summer Music Enrichment Program! It may have been wet and muggy but our brilliant students didn’t lose a bit of momentum. Everyone worked together to make sure all of the classes and lunchtime could be held inside in a safe and calm environment. The drums beat away in our majestic parlor while the trumpets hollered in Mr. Z’s (air-conditioned!) practice room.

The students missed frolicking in our beautiful garden area, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have fun in our play room! Miss Angela led “rec” class inside for the second half of the day, playing team-building and story-telling games.

Afraid of thunderstorms? Come spend a rainy day at Walker West Music Academy and there will be too much music pouring down around you to even notice the thunder outside!

Inside Walker West Music Academy's Summer Music Enrichment Program

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:37:12 -0500

Inside Walker West Music Academy's Summer Music Enrichment Program:

Thank you to the Knight Arts Foundation for your continued support of Walker West Music Academy!

Remy talks about his favorite part of SMEP so far, and what he...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 17:01:08 -0500

Remy talks about his favorite part of SMEP so far, and what he looks forward to most this summer!

Mr. Z, Brother Remy, and their students put on a concert of...

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 15:57:23 -0500

Mr. Z, Brother Remy, and their students put on a concert of recorders…and it’s only the second day of the program!!

Co-founder Grant West talks about what the Summer Music...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:17:45 -0500

Co-founder Grant West talks about what the Summer Music Enrichment Program means to Walker West Music Academy.

SMEP Kicks Off!

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:12:02 -0500

Walker West’s Summer Music Enrichment Program started today! Thirty young students from the ages of 5-12 walked through our doors eager to learn how to sing and play a variety of instruments including the piano, African drums, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, recorder, and violin. Many are touching these instruments for the first time and will leave the Academy in three weeks able to identify names, parts, and uses of instruments, as well as more confident in their communication, interpersonal, and developmental skills.

This is only the beginning of what will no doubt turn out to be one of our most impressive Summer Enrichment Programs thus far!

Stay up to date on our students’ progress as they prepare for their final performance at the end of July. Photos and videos will be posted on Walker West Music Academy’s Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr profiles after every day of camp!

Thanks to Andrea Canter from the Dakota Foundation for Jazz...

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:00:00 -0500

Thanks to Andrea Canter from the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education for these great photos from the Mary Louise Knutson piano clinic on Saturday, May 19th!