Middle School Music Expansion
/“The most rewarding [part] is getting to work with a group of students every day who really just want to sing. “Can we sing that again?” “Can we do another one?” are often heard in the chorus classroom. This means kids want to be there, which means we can take on more challenging repertoire, fly to new heights, and expand our songs into singing in several languages, learning multiple harmonies, and singing with passion. Really, it’s a dream job. ”
An exciting addition at Breakwater this year has been the creation of our middle school band and chorus program. Music has always played a strong role in the Breakwater curriculum - students are introduced to music and songs in our toddler and preschool classes and they learn more about different instruments, rhythms, and basic musical notation in K-4th grade. Our music concerts pre-COVID-19 always filled the gym and featured large and small group musical ensembles and cross grade performances. The addition of band and chorus really builds on the work of the incredible music teachers at Breakwater both past and present. Middle school chorus director, Stephanie Davis, shares, “By the end of fourth grade you can see the students who really want to perfect melodies and rhythms on instruments or those who keep asking ‘when are we picking {vocal} solos for the performance?!’” Our band and chorus programs now allow students to make this choice and expand on their musical knowledge on a wind/ percussion instrument or through singing.
Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of offering middle school band and chorus, has been the musical communities that both provide. Both Stephanie and middle school band teacher, John Forsleff, notice the drive that students have to grow and strengthen their music skills. During band, John shares, “the students show a lot of enjoyment when they all play together as a group. They’re also always eager to play solos for their classmates.” Stephanie observes a similar community forming in chorus. She notes, “when students are given the choice, they tend to go "all in" and I've really seen that this year in chorus. Students have sung their hearts out, learned a lot of challenging repertoire and really flourished as singers and musicians…I am really seeing this group of kids come together in so many wonderful ways.” Now that they have this choice, middle schoolers have really taken ownership and pride in their musical growth. Allowing middle schoolers this choice also introduces them to programs they may want to continue exploring in high school band/ chorus and beyond.
Below photos are from our middle school rock band - an after school club that rehearses every Friday
Although building these two new programs has been exciting, pilot programs are of course challenging as well. Since this is the first year of middle school band, John was introducing many students to playing their wind instruments for the first time in addition to playing wind instruments together in a larger ensemble. He shares, “the biggest challenge has been that since the program is new, most students came in as beginners on their instrument. That meant that we had a lot of foundational work to do. However, that has also been the most rewarding part of the program because we’ve seen so much progress and talent.” For chorus, Stephanie shares that for kids who really love singing, there’s “never enough time! I wish we could have chorus every day! I also feel deeply for those lucky few who really are having a hard time choosing between chorus and band.” Breakwater is fortunate that there are other ways for middle school students to get involved with music outside of the school day including middle school Rock Band and the 7th/8th grade original musical. Stephanie says that these offerings have been great for students who really love singing and playing an instrument.
For John and Stephanie, this expansion of the music program at Breakwater truly embodies the Breakwater Way and the Breakwater mission. Students are able to realize their full potential by learning a new instrument or growing their singing abilities. Stephanie states, “By making a choice to be in chorus or band, we give them the opportunity to strive for their most optimal learning experience. [Making music] in community IS living well on the planet. [Making music] together is community building, it promotes togetherness, and feelings of good will.” Our middle school students have been working extremely hard under the direction of both Stephanie and John this year and are excited to showcase their work at an end of school year concert! We hope you come out to support our musicians!
“Our band program echos Breakwater’s mission of helping students realize their full potential. Learning a new instrument is challenging and all the students have excelled at putting in the hard work to develop their skills and become young musicians!”