Teaching Tolerance Through Music

The staff and students at Centennial Park School (CPS) in Chateauguay worked hard to put on a musical called Honk Jr!  Students in grade 4,5 and 6 were involved in the play as actors and the whole school was involved in lessons surrounding the meaning behind the play. 

CPS teacher Moira Lemme explains that Honk JR! is “based on the story of the ugly duckling, and teaches us that everyone is different in their own way... and different isn't a good thing or a bad thing - it’s just different, and if we were all the same we would live in such a boring world”.

It was noted that some students who at times struggle in academics, blew the audience away with their performance and gained a lot of confidence.  Specifically, “students directly involved [in the musical] learned that they are capable of things they had no idea of. They gained confidence and understanding that places to learn outside of the regular classroom exist and as young people, they too can give back to the community and teach lessons to the younger students”.

Partnerships

Howard S. Billings High School supported the musical by setting up the sound and lighting. Secondary students in the IB program taught the elementary students a few things about life on the stage. The musical was performed for the Chateauguay English Community Network, a group of seniors dedicated to lifelong learning, as well as the school community.

Learning Happens Everywhere

We asked Ms. Lemme  what the students learned by participating in the Community Service Learning project?  She wrote that “students learned that it is unkind to say mean things to each other, and that we can't judge people based on what they look like”.  Grade 1 teacher, and director of the play - Carol Ann Fruciano, taught students about making connections and noted that after reading a book about a “mean” character the grade one students immediately related it to Honk.  Realizing a direct expectation from the QEPs  “Connecting text to text and text to world”.

Ms. Lemme concludes by saying that “Honk Jr! was a fabulous experience for the students at CPS. The audience was blown away at the level of professionalism and performance that 9-12 year olds could create. It was A LOT of work for the teacher involved (some of us are still recovering) but it was well worth it to hear the kids say after how great they felt. One student said after his performance "Ms. Lemme, that was the greatest thing I have ever done - I didn't know I could do something that well!"”

Thank you and congratulations to everyone that was involved.   I imagine the anti-bullying message will stick in the minds of everyone involved. The leadership opportunities, and chances to shine will positively engage the students as they continue along their education path.

Centennial Park School is located in the community of Chateauguay- New Frontiers School Board

Music through the Decades

Music through the decades is a wonderful service learning project addressing the authentic community need of reducing isolation of seniors from the Mary- Elizabeth Residence in Châteauguay while being integrated into the music, math, English and French curriculum.  The project was lead by two teachers from the New Frontiers School Board, Moira Lemme from Centennial Park Elementary School and Melissa Ianniciello from St. Willibrord.

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The project started with students interviewing seniors and taking notes about music they loved throughout their lives.  The students took the information back to the classroom analyzing the results with surveys, bar graphs and answered questions using the information.  Perhaps not surprisingly, some students less engaged by math, “took the assignment very seriously as we were analyzing data. They wanted to understand - what the averages were and most common answers”  Ms. Lemme noted “Projects like this lead to better understanding for students, especially typically lower scoring students who can make connections and be excited about the work they are doing”.

The project didn’t stop there, students responded to what they had learned by working hard to put together a set of songs that would appeal to seniors.

Let’s not pretend inter-generational projects like Music through the generations are not without some challenges, even with the support of a great CLC Coordinator like Anthony Spadaccino.   Ms. Lemme mentioned the difficulty in finding time to visit the seniors and the arranging transportation logistics.   After some back and forth with the seniors home, it became apparent the seniors did not want to leave their home to see the show in the school gym.  So instead, the class brought the concert to them (with a cold buffet, props, and costumes).

Reflecting on the concert, The most popular songs were Brown Eye'd Girl and Can't Help Falling In Love. The students brought the seniors potted flowers and presented cards saying "thanks for having us" and "have a good summer".

A lot of work went into this project, and we have a few clues that the event was successful for the seniors and students.

After the concert, Ms. Lemme was proud to say she had received 4 calls from seniors at the residence “to thank us for our show, the flowers and the snacks!”  She also said the “students wrote a journal today about their experience and many of them noted that they felt really good doing something for their community. They also loved learning songs that they don't hear every day. (A few also said their parents were happy to hear some classics when their child practiced at home)”.  “I was very pleased! The kids were happy and the seniors seemed very happy!”