Today we are the newest El Sistema Program in the world...

After all the planning, momentum, and the false start on Monday, today was finally day one.  As Tricia said, today we are the newest El Sistema program in the world!  How cool!?  The kids came in very excited and ready to learn.  The students got a chance to rotate between classes and try out all the instruments (violin, viola, cello) before choosing which one they would like to learn for the semester.   The students were adorable, funny, curious, sassy, and energetic.  Above all, they were very excited to be there.  There was a positive energy in the room.  The first day was not without a few chaotic moments.  Everything is so new to the students.  We tried our best as teachers to just make music and do activities, but the first day came with a lot of explaining- rules, expectations, introductions etc.  As the program continues we will find our groove.  I came home today exhausted and full of ideas and adjustments for next class. 

This is where the hard work begins.  It is fun to dream and get lost in the glamorous excitement of music and social objectives.  However, it is within the ordinary classroom interactions that we will make this program something real.  It is the repeated non-glamorous, mundane (and sometimes challenging) daily lessons, teaching the building blocks of music, that will hopefully lead to something extraordinary.

Getting Ready for Day One

Wow, Monday is almost here!  Monday is day one of what promises to be an exciting and groundbreaking program at the Community Charter School of Paterson.  I’m writing as one of the three teachers for the Paterson Music Program.  The three teachers, Shanna, Terrence & I (Liz) went to the school yesterday to set up our classrooms and plan.  The school has a positive and supportive environment that I know will go a long way in making this program successful.  The faculty is friendly and helpful.  The students are energetic and inquisitive.   After having done a few demos for classes two weeks ago, many students came up to us yesterday asking when the program was starting.  A group of boys came up to Terrence as we waited in the lobby and exchanged handshakes.  We got many smiles and frenzied hand waves as students passed by in the hallways to their next classes. 

A giant driving force behind the school’s positive energy is the amazing, energetic, upbeat, and engaging Marnie McKoy- principle of the school.   She has been so helpful in getting us everything we need to get this program up and running. She may even be joining us in the program- not as a teacher, but as a student! I hear she wants to do cello with Mr. Terrence.

As for our Paterson Music Project teachers, we are pretty lucky- and so are the kids!  Shanna is a devoted violist and teacher.  She is caring, sincere, encouraging and demanding with her students.  Terrence is a one-of-a-kind loveable and caring person.  Students are drawn to him.  His strong teaching and musical skills as a cellist will serve the students well.   We are also lucky to have the leadership of Jeff Grogan who shares the passion and vision for this project, in addition to Tricia Tunstall, Derek Mithaug, and all those at NJYS/Wharton, supporting this program.

I strongly believe that within the next few years this program will come to serve not only the 28 students from the Community Charter School of Paterson who are beginning on Monday, but it will serve their peers, families, and community.  With no mandatory music programs in the public schools in Paterson, I hope that this will be an opportunity for comprehensive and community-oriented music programs to be introduced to a large population of children.  I hope that all children in Paterson can be offered meaningful and life-changing experiences through the vehicle of music.  These are experiences that will validate them as individuals, offer them skills and confidence, and propel them into a world of successful adulthood.