Each Friday, we highlight one of our 2019 Fellows — their inspiration, itinerary, and plan for transforming student learning going forward. Today, however, we celebrate the completion of our first fellowship of the year!

Kristin Gladish (Newcomer Program – Indianapolis) obtained permission from her administration to embark on her fellowship during the first week of May — the only time UCLArts & Healing offers facilitator training for Beat the Odds, a trauma-informed program that integrates activities from group drumming and counseling to build core strengths such as team building, leadership, stress management, empathy and gratitude.

“In short, my fellowship was amazing!” said Kristin. “As a student, then practicing as the facilitator, I learned how to mix in drum circle facilitation with affirmations, rhythm games, and activities to increase students’ focus, listening, self-awareness, and self-expression. The goal behind all of this is to incorporate counseling techniques into drum circles and help students who have experienced trauma.”

For Kristin, that includes all of her students — refugees or newly arrived immigrants hailing from 15 countries and speaking 21 languages. Of her 257 music students in grades 2-10, 100 percent are minorities and qualify for free and reduced lunch.

An extension of her fellowship includes working with a local “Beat the Odds” trainer, which will help Kristin build local partnerships and community collaborations. In addition to the musical implications of her fellowship, she is also learning how to measure the results of the program through documented observations, pre- and post- student surveys, video evidence of musical/rhythm/social improvements, and attendance and grade data.

Kristin, who holds a bachelor and Master’s degree in Vocal Music, wasted no time implementing her fellowship. For the final three weeks of school, she is introducing the new drumming curriculum on instruments she also purchased with FFT grant money.

“Every country has some sort of drumming, and each student, no matter what language they speak, can learn to play a rhythmic pattern together and to keep a beat together,” said Kristin. “Beyond that, students will learn methods to relieve stress and to express their
feelings through drumming and words — valuable coping methods for students who experienced trauma and violence in their home countries and come to school struggling with inattention, depression, PTSD and anxiety.”

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Kristin has taught music for 11 years in Lousiana, Texas, and now Indiana. She was the 2019 Teacher of the Year, and was a Top 10 Finalist for the Indianapolis Public Schools District Teacher of the Year. Kristin has completed her Level 1 Orff Training, and enjoys sewing and hiking in her free time.

[minti_dropcap style=”box”]W[/minti_dropcap]hen Heather Ely purchased the college text book for her first music history course, she eagerly flipped through looking for female composers — and found none. Almost ten years later when creating the curriculum for her music students at Lake Park Elementary in Bethany, OK, available resources highlighted the same male composers who dominated her own education. She wondered, “Are there truly this few women who influenced music composition worth noting?”

Anna Beer’s book Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music  provided a definitive answer and the basis for Heather’s Fund for Teachers fellowship. Last summer, she explored in five European countries the lives of women highlighted in Beer’s work to compare struggles with male counterparts and enrich students’ understanding of women’s compositional voices in four periods of music history.

“Beer recounts the sexism and frustrations that these women faced in the pursuit of their art and questions the impact of the loss of their legacies in our cultural heritage,” said Heather. “Gender determined so much of what the classical music world classifies as canonical, but Beer exposes the dangers of silencing these prolific voices in our society.”

Heather’s efforts to amplify their voices began in Venice with Baroque period, studying the life of composer Barbara Strozzi and her male contemporary, Antonio Vivaldi. A night train took her to Vienna and the Classical period, where she examined the legacy of Marianna Martines compared to Joseph Haydn. Leipzig, Germany, and the Romantic period presented opportunities to evaluate the relationship between piano prodigy, Clara Schumann, and her composer husband, Robert Schumann. Renegade musicians from the Impressionist and Modern periods came to life in Paris’ bohemian Ninth Arrondissement, artists such as Nadia and Lili Boulanger. Finally, the Women’s Suffragette movement in London provided the backdrop for Heather’s consideration how Elizabeth Maconchy and Benjamin Britten’s experiences differed, despite having the identical education.

This fall, music education for second-fifth graders has #balanceforbetter, the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day celebrated globally tomorrow, March 8. Specific changes Heather made post-fellowship include:

• Examination of a different musical period she researched per grade
• Researching what life was like for one male composer and one female composer during the musical period they study
• Listening to and analyzing  works of both male and female composers from the musical
  period being studied
• Exploring history trunks she created with artifacts from her fellowship, and,
• Publication of a book by fourth and fifth graders containing research of a male or female composer.

“This fellowship awakened a passion and thankfulness for the lives of all the women who came before me and fought for all the freedom and rights I enjoy today,” said Heather. “It also gave me a greater desire to share the narratives of people from all races and cultures. I know that this experience has changed my view of my abilities as both an educator and leader. I am more excited to take risks if it means better understanding and growth for my students and for me.”

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Heather is an elementary music teacher in northwest Oklahoma City for Putnam City Schools. She has spent all four years of her teaching career at Lake Park Elementary, and currently serves on her school’s leadership team as the Specials Team Leader. Heather enjoys helping her students explore culture and history through music. You can see more images from her fellowship on Instagram @elys_musicalmusings2018,  where we found this image and accompanying description:

This year marks the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote in the U.K. The Museum of London chronicles the bravery of the women involved in this movement. One such women was composer Dr. Ethel Smyth. Ethel was very close with Emmeline Pankhurst, and in 1912, she was arrested for her militant efforts to get the vote. Ethel and many other women were sent to Holloway Prison for their actions. What happened next is just my favorite! Women in the prison yard began singing “The March of the Women” which was composed by Ethel. She heard them and from her cell began to conduct their voices with her toothbrush! What resilience and courage these woman had! Thankful that their efforts prevailed so that I might have the rights I have today!

FFT Fellow Chris Smith and 15 of his students recently hosted the first Chicago Immigrant Refugee Resource Fair at Mather High School. The story behind the event, shared below by Chris, demonstrates the true ripple effect of a Fund for Teachers grant. This high school music teacher designed a fellowship to attend the Blas International Summer School of Irish Traditional Music and Dance at the University of Limerick to enrich orchestra curriculum by integrating elements of Irish folk music, ensemble skills, and improvisation. He shares the progression of learning from there below. We are proud of you and your students, Chris!

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“I have continued my study of Irish traditional music since 2013 when I was awarded the FFT fellowship, which was transformative to my teaching in many ways. Not only have I incorporated lessons that I learned in my teaching strategy, but my support from FFT has led to many more opportunities for me and my students

Last summer, I attended the Swannanoa Gathering outside Asheville, NC, to again study under Martin Hayes, a teacher from Blas. I also received a small grant from the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, which I used to host a lecture/performance and workshop by members of the Irish Music School of Chicago.

Additionally, I was inspired at write a grant proposal (which was funded) which allowed for a residency at Mather High School by renowned traditional Irish performer Kathleen Keane. Over the course of two months, Kathleen visited Mather to perform and work with a small group of motivated orchestra students. She taught them a set of traditional jigs which they performed in concert.

Because of my FFT experience, I was also awarded the Teaching for Global Classrooms fellowship by the US State Department. In summer 2016, I traveled to India and, in part, taught music at a school in Vadodara, Gujarat.

Visit this website Chris created to document FFT fellowship in Limerick, as well as another site, including access to his resulting unit and lesson plans, following his TGC fellowship.

Based on my TGC fellowship, I was able to apply to then attend a conference for alumni of government sponsored international travel. As a participant, I was invited to apply for money to create a project on the subject of inclusion. I was awarded a grant from the State Department to organize and implement the Inaugural ChiUnderOneRoof: Chicago Immigrant and Refugee Resource Fair.  My students and I hosted hosted 25 local community organizations who work to support our immigrant and refugee population.

Parenthetically, since my fellowship, my wife has been awarded a fellowship along with one of her coworkers and three teachers at my school. These are just a few of the things that have resulted from the opportunities afforded me by Fund for Teachers.”

Click here to read Chris’ description of how planning the resource fair impacted him and his students.

As tensions heated up this summer between Russia and the United States, Kathy Morse served as a self-appointed ambassador of education, researching the arts in St. Petersburg, Novgorod and Moscow. She returned to ACES Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School in Hamden, CT, with insight into how the arts plays such a vital role in Russia’s past and present culture and shares a few of her experiences below…

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Before leaving on my fellowship, I asked my fifth graders to journal their impressions of Russia. Their input framed my research, which I will now use as the foundation for their sixth grade social studies class. Together, we will now look at our diverse world through the common lens of art, specifically, the music, dance and architecture I experienced with my Fund for Teachers grant.

For three weeks, I observed how culture is a driving force in Russia. In St. Petersburg, also known as “Venice of the North,” I explored the arts, history and geography of the city (the famed music conservatory, the Vaganova Ballet Academy and the State Hermitage Museum) while attending the Stars of the White Nights Festival. Specifically, I dove into the compositional techniques of Dimitri Shostakovich and his inspiration for his Seventh Symphony during the winter of 1941.

Listen to an extract from Seventh Symphony here.

Next, I traveled to a city fixed in time, Novgorod, which lies between St. Petersburg and Moscow. At its peak during the 14th century, Novgorod was one of Europe’s largest cities and was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1992. Novgorod has maintained itself as a historical center and it is possible to get a glimpse of what Russia looked like hundreds of years ago going back as far as the Middle Ages. This gave me a deeper historical context of Russia.

Continuing on to Moscow, I spent three days exploring the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral, museums and attending performances at the Bolshoi Theatre. These sites are the most iconic, so I wanted students to know what they mean for the Russian people, as well as the importance Moscow plays in our world today.

Understanding WWII through the eyes of the Russian People by exploring Victory Park and the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (WWII) in Moscow was an extensive history lesson. This country lost more than 25 million citizens to battle, starvation, disease and Stalin’s Terror.  The museum also emphasizes the important role the United States and other Allies played in securing victory over Nazi Germany.

Using the Lincoln Center Education model of inquiry (practicing skills like noticing deeply, posing questions, making connections, and empathizing), my students and I will now be able to explore the Russian culture through the study of the arts of St. Petersburg, the history of Novgorod and the political importance of Moscow while making real world connections to other curriculum areas including literature, history and geography. If we Westerners hope to understand this enormous country, we might intelligently begin by trying to understand the culture which drives this mysterious country. That’s where we’ll begin in my class.

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Kathy Morse (pictured in a Moscow subway station) graduated from Duquesne University with a degree in Music Education/Music Therapy while pursuing her passion of performance on the
French Horn.  Her first job was with the State Orchestra of Mexico. Upon returning to the United States, she earned her Masters Degree from Yale University and toured world wide with various ensembles. She has carried her passion for music into the classroom for the past 26 years and has led teacher workshops for Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic.