BIG IDEAS

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A little story. 

(Cue cheesy background music…)  

Once upon a time, an enthusiastic music teacher named Mrs. Laura Landes had a dream.  Her vision involved the delightful tones of a classroom filled with 5^th grade students- their eager hands strumming in perfect time on tiny composite ukuleles.

Last year for her birthday, Mrs. Landes bought herself a gift.  Most women would purchase something traditionally lovely…but not our Mrs. Landes.  




(Really, if you are going to buy yourself a present, you go for chocolate or jewelry, no?)  

Apparently not.  
Instead, she decided to "treat" herself to a ukulele.

Mrs. Landes is apparently a quick study because within an hour of getting her hands on that birthday gift, she was through the entire beginner methods book and playing some simple songs.  It was so easy and SO much fun, she started brainstorming about ways to use it in the classroom. She tells me, “Ukes are especially great for little hands because the four strings are so close together!” Nylon strings make learning less uncomfortable than the metal strings on a guitar.

In the spring, Mrs. Landes went to the annual Pennsylvania Music Educator’s Association Conference in Hershey.  She was able to attend some clinics and her interest in pursuing classroom ukulele instruction grew.  After collaborating with Mrs. Berg and Mrs. Litzenberger in the music department, the team decided that Mrs. Landes would pursue writing a grant to purchase a classroom set of thirty instruments.

 

Before any of that could happen, an interesting post arose on Facebook.  Even social media has occasional benefits! Mrs. Litzenberger found a notice publicizing that the first 80 schools on the eastern half of the US who “liked”, “shared,” and sent an email in response to the posting would be rewarded with 40 ukuleles.

You can imagine what a woman who buys herself a birthday ukulele would do with THAT information. Mrs. Landes was on that opportunity like white on rice!  Two days later she received an affirmative response from the company. Thanks to Mrs. Landes and her big idea (where big idea means itty bitty stringed instrument), our school was the lucky recipient of Kala Brand Music Company’s September instrument giveaway.

Ukuleles have recently made a comeback in popularity.  They were “born” in Hawaii, way back in the 19^th century…lutes constructed of wood, playing in time with island breezes on the Big Island.  

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During a trip to the 1939 World’s Fair, a man named Mario Maccaferri became inspired by the notion of an all-weather plastic instrument.  Soon after, he invented his water-resistant version of the Hawaiian product.  His tiny instruments sold like hotcakes for two decades. 

In the same spirit of outdoor fun, a company in Petaluma, California continues to make high-grade, durable instruments.  One such product is the Waterman ukulele. 

What does your mind recall when you hear the plinking strains of a ukulele?  Images of grass skirts and the falsetto crooning of an eccentric musician singing “Tiptoe through the Tulips” come to mind for me.  

At least that is what came to mind prior to our school's awesome aquisition!

Visit Kala Brand Music's Facebook page

or check  their website for 

more information.

Just before October, there was a small celebratory party in the main office when some large cardboard boxes arrived.  

The boxes contained an abundant supply of Waterman soprano ukuleles, complete with gig bags (you know…just in case we want to take our show on the road….)

Soon, Mrs. Landes was fashioning uke picks from old credit cards and painstakingly tuning the plethora of new instruments until her well-trained ear and key-twisting fingers were utterly and thoroughly spent.

It was no small feat to have all those nylgut strings singing the same fabulous tones!

If you like Where's Waldo, you might enjoy
searching for Mrs. Landes on one of the newly
clipped ukulele picks above. 

Why is this so exciting?  Let me just tell you.  

Research shows that brains of children are actually changed when they learn to make music on an instrument.  As children begin to hear and process sounds, they develop neurophysiological distinctions between different resonances.  This is a fancy way of saying that children who learn to PLAY music will have increased success in literacy.  This translates into improved academics overall. This does not occur when someone just listens to music. These amazing biological changes require actually playing music. 

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This is a very musical bunch.  Ukulele aside, a full 50% of our current fifth grade students play some kind of instrument!     

That's a really remarkable statistic.

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Attempting the fingering on that very first chord.

Some palm trees and surfboards would be nice....

I stopped by the other day when some of the students were working on strumming and chord identification. With ukulele in hand, the teacher instructed the class.  "Show me the fingering for the F chord!" Little by little, the fifth grade students identified and landed on that F chord, strumming like an insistent chorus of tenacious bumble bees, all humming in the same determined key.

  
The students are having a great time tickling those strings. In the photo here, Kaiya is focused companionably on Will's great string work during "partner practice."

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Great progress is happening!  Click on 

the short video clip below to see the 

students of 5SH play a tune! 

Thank you, Mrs. Landes, for your big ideas! 

Lefties Club!

I’ve already begun to rationalize a birthday ukulele of my own. In fact, I might decide to spring for a grass skirt too.... 

*Photo credit: Courtney Reynolds 

Can You Hear Me Now?

It’s that magical time of year when we find out which students can hear us, which students cannot, and which of our fine cherubs are just choosing to blatantly ignore our verbal requests!

Pennsylvania School Health Law requires that all students in grades K-3 and 7 have a hearing test while on the Penn View campus of Dock Mennonite Academy.

Can you remember this kind of testing in school?  I remember it well and approached it with equal measures of solemnity and terror.  It was really dread of failure.  Striving to excel at every tone, I distinctly remember repeatedly and prematurely raising my hand in anticipation.  Much like those Olympic runners who eliminate themselves from competition because they literally jump the gun. Because most school nurses are nurturing creatures, I was never actually referred to my doctor for these incorrect responses. I do, however, remember more than a few gentle hands clasping my own waving appendage and returning it to its proper position at my side for the next tone.  “I know you are listening closely…just wait for the beep….” Ugh.
 

Waiting patiently for a hearing test.

For many years the screenings on our campus were accomplished by a team of Souderton District nurses.  With carefully planned scheduling, this competent team historically managed to screen roughly 250 students in a period of just 90 minutes. 

If you’ve ever been in the nurse’s office, you can just imagine the scene.  Eight or nine school nurses, each with their own audiometer and a line of several children at each temporary station, awaiting the chance to signal in response to beeps and buzzes.  Extension cords reaching to the stations from every possible outlet.  Wide student eyes, some apprehensive and others chomping at the bit for their time to shine.  

Small arms flapping and beckoning in a rhythmic upper body dance, a veritable gesturing stew-pot!  

Me… a clipboard in hand, my eyes darting around the room yet recurrently returning to the clock…. I’m sweating discreetly and hoping against hope that all of the classes arrive exactly on time lest they throw off the painstakingly arranged timetable.  Not that I’m a control-freak in any way…. It was my job to assign time slots and direct classes in and out of the door while simultaneously watching for the other nurses to signal screen failures and most importantly, to compel little pairs of noisy shuffling shoes and whispering children to immediately cease and desist.  Let’s just say, some children have not yet mastered the art of the whisper.  Their attempts at a delicate murmur come off more like an insistent snake delivering an urgent message via megaphone.  And there is always a toe tapper in the crowd….

While this organized chaos was really amazingly efficient, there were always a handful of students who simply could not manage to listen intently to the delicate sounds delivered because there was so much excitement to witness.  Closing one’s eyes is not easy when there are so many uncommon sights to see!  


The end result was that 20 or 30 distracted friends would need to return to me on a later date for a quieter session. One on one.   

This year, all of our students were tested in a more controlled environment- half by me and the other half by our nurse-helper, Mrs. Debbie Quinn of the Indian Valley Middle School (seen in the photo above).  








It was peaceful and flowed smoothly, thanks to our appointed “husher” and student-shuffler, Mrs. Linda Souder. She kept us all on task.

Hearing tests are serious business as seen below....

But there is celebration with success!

After testing, the nice quiet crew waited patiently in the hallway for the rest of the class to finish.  

Sometimes it's best to hear about it from the experts. 

Lydia knew what was going to happen when her class lined up for testing.  "She's gonna do the 
beep thing!"







               Matthew reports that the sounds 
               got "higher and higher!"






Riley knew exactly what to do.  "When the sound stops, I am going to put my hand down."  

None of this was new for seventh grader Drew.  "You just have to listen to the sounds.  I've done this before at the doctor's office too." 

Chloe thought the sounds were pretty loud!

The students were cooperative and attentive to the task at hand.






In fact, several students in grade levels not tested this year were a little disappointed not to have a chance to wear the headphones!

Sometimes cold symptoms and fall allergies interfere with results. A few of the students will have the chance to return again in November for one more screening before referral to their doctor. 

So for all of the Dock Mennonite Academy parents out there, rest assured.  If you think your child is having hearing issues when it is time to take out the trash or do some other thrilling household chore, there is always a way to be certain those young ears are functioning.  Email or phone the nurse's office for confirmation if you are having doubts!

Can you hear me now?  Yes, in fact, we CAN.  

Photo Credits Kathy Gordon; Student Quote Credits Alissa Messina

FIRST WEEK

It is DAY SIX and all systems are GO!

It is tempting to say "it's as though we never left"…but truth be told, this first week of school atmosphere is a different kind of feeling. There is nothing like snazzy shoes, a sharp pencil, great attitudes, a fresh start in the next grade level, and the faces of 81 brand new student friends to get those brain cells firing in a back-to-school kind of rhythm. 

I was privileged to catch up with second grader Rebekah Hillman this week.  Her response to my well-worn first-week-of-school question, “So…how do you like second grade so far?”gave me a small heart failure before it made me smile.  She was thoughtful and matter-of-fact. “I don’t like it.”  Uh oh…. There was pause enough to make my eyebrows raise before she finished her thought aloud.  “I LOVE it!” Her convincing grin followed.

Mrs. Hadden’s four-year-old class happily shared their favorite parts of the school day.  While Makenzie loves the playground, Caleb (still sporting his awesome summer haircut) says nap-time is great because he can play quietly by himself instead of sleep!  

(This aversion to naps will surely change in the second half of your personal century, my young friend….)

With no coaxing or inducement from our school librarian, Avelynn energetically reported that her very favorite school activity is reading books! 

Kate and Sam (both kindergartners in Ms. Price’s homeroom) voiced how much they love to sing with Mrs. Litzenberger during music class. I did not ask for a recital but had the feeling they were willing to start crooning if the opportunity arose.

Young Naomi is a fan of physical education!  On Wednesday afternoon, Mrs. Longacre taught the kindergarten children to safely maneuver through space by driving their hula hoop cars around the small gymnasium.  Making things even more realistic, I was told that some of the cars were making "burning out" sounds as they jockeyed for position.  Perhaps we should send our energetic PE teacher to our high school campus to help direct newly licensed drivers.  Navigating actual cars into parking spots during the early morning hours is no small feat. Especially for novice drivers who have not yet fully extracted themselves from summertime sleep schedules.

Kindergarten Friends! Ms. Price's class. 

Five year-old Khloe described fun with the color purple during her art class this week with Mrs. Bergey.  The students listened to the story of Harold and his purple crayon as they tested different forms of coloring media during their introductory class period.

Bravely representing the middle school end of our building, Madelyn Lewis, grade 7 admits she may not have been QUITE ready to return to school when the calendar page turned to August 25th....  But now that she is back, she is glad to be with her friends again. 

Watch for blog entries at the beginning of each month during this school year.  A small square PEEK icon is accessible on our school website and with each edition of the weekly Penn's View newsletter. The icon is a speedy way to access the school blog. The PEEK allows parents and friends a small window into the school day.  

Every single minute, there are wonderful opportunities for learning and growth on the Penn View campus of Dock Mennonite Academy.