As I mentioned in my mama-stegosaurus-on-steroids post a few days ago, I'm doing a community project with my junior high students that positively connects them to people in Grande Prairie through the power of music. I didn't explain it too well before, so I'll try to do that better here.
Basically, the intiative is rooted in research in the field of music therapy which shows that listening to music can calm, and even spark memory in, patients with Alzheimers and other forms of dementia. To see passive, unresponsive patients who cannot remember their spouses to whom which they've been married for 50+ years, or their children, or even how to talk...to see them be sparked back to life; recall distant memories, and become vocal, simply by listening to music, is just so powerful! It's a real example of the often-overused word, "awesome". A truly awe-inspiring event.
If you've already seen the video I posted in my mega-blog, you may have clicked on the related videos and seen that video above already. If not, I really do suggest taking a look. It's just so amazing, I'm not sure how to explain in words how it affects me every time I watch it! If you are reading this on a tight schedule, the following is a shorter video than the one above, which explains the idea in video form:
The whole idea is that my students will run an ipod/mp3 player drive, where members of the school and greater community can donate old (but still functional) music-playing devices that they're no longer using. These mp3 players are then wiped of old songs, designated to a particular patient with dementia, uploaded with songs that are significant to that individual (ie wedding song, favourite song as a child, etc) and played for the patient. It's as simple as that. We've all heard the phrase "one man's trash is another man's treasure" but the proof in this is unreal. By simply donating something that's lying around our house and not being used, we have a rare opportunity to significantly improve the lives of people in our community - both the patient and their families and friends. Why WOULDN'T we do something like this?
I must give a shout out to my grade 8 teacher, Miss Lollar, who opened my eyes to local community involvement through schools. I remember that during my time in her class we decorated a bus for the Kingston Santa Claus parade (I think it was somehow related to the local food bank?); we were involved in a community remembrance day ceremony; and really worked on citizenship as part of our daily routine. The fulfillment from the activities in her class really inspired me to emulate that in my own teaching now that I have classes of my own. It made me feel special and important and capable, and I want all of my students to feel that way. So here's to you, Miss Lollar -- who will probably never read this -- for inspiring me to be a better teacher.
Now, I didn't want to write a post about this project quite yet, since I have no idea how successful it's going to be. But there's a press release going out asap and I can't hold in my excitement!! With any luck, someone out there will find it newsworthy and help publish something to the public in order to get our idea out there! How great would it be to have the greater Grande Prairie community pitch in as well? And to be part of building that sort of positive relationship between a) schools and health care, and b) young people and elderly people in the community, is just SO exciting to me!
I can't wait to see where this project goes. With a little luck and some hard work, I hope this will be a grand success.
Here's to the next few months of community pride!
Until Next Time,
Beckers
I must give a shout out to my grade 8 teacher, Miss Lollar, who opened my eyes to local community involvement through schools. I remember that during my time in her class we decorated a bus for the Kingston Santa Claus parade (I think it was somehow related to the local food bank?); we were involved in a community remembrance day ceremony; and really worked on citizenship as part of our daily routine. The fulfillment from the activities in her class really inspired me to emulate that in my own teaching now that I have classes of my own. It made me feel special and important and capable, and I want all of my students to feel that way. So here's to you, Miss Lollar -- who will probably never read this -- for inspiring me to be a better teacher.
Now, I didn't want to write a post about this project quite yet, since I have no idea how successful it's going to be. But there's a press release going out asap and I can't hold in my excitement!! With any luck, someone out there will find it newsworthy and help publish something to the public in order to get our idea out there! How great would it be to have the greater Grande Prairie community pitch in as well? And to be part of building that sort of positive relationship between a) schools and health care, and b) young people and elderly people in the community, is just SO exciting to me!
I can't wait to see where this project goes. With a little luck and some hard work, I hope this will be a grand success.
Here's to the next few months of community pride!
Until Next Time,
Beckers
1 comment:
You're awesome Beckster!!! :D
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