PFW music ed students inspire Levan Scott Academy fifth graders

No one wants to leave a warm bed in the middle of the winter to be at school before 8 a.m., but a group of Purdue University Fort Wayne music education students did just that this semester and found joy in the early morning experience. Under the direction of Casey Collins, clinical assistant professor of music education, four are earning field hours by serving as music teachers at Levan Scott Academy, a Fort Wayne Community Schools institution.

Considering none of the students had any idea what to expect in the beginning, the results have been remarkably positive. Responses from a few of the younger LSA students have centered on themes such as “It’s over already?” and “I don’t want music class to be done yet!”

“This is such high praise for a teacher!” PFW student Leah Pranger said. “The best part of taking on this project with Levan Scott has been the elementary students. They come to our class time ready to learn about music. It’s been incredible to have a chance to practice our teaching skills. The whole experience has completely reinvigorated my drive and passion to teach music.”

Even getting up so early to face the cold wind before the sun comes up?

“Not a single one of us mind getting up and getting to the school by 8 a.m. to help with the car line,” Collins said. “We get lots of hugs and high fives, and talk about anything from cartoons to video games. Some of our students have said this is the best experience they’ve had in terms of field work.”

The three other PFW students are Alden Longsworth, Grace Driscoll, and Maddy Urbahns. Including Pranger, they all help direct two fifth grade classes with Collins under the guidance of LSA music teacher Trent Forrest. The work is funded through a Southeast Arts Project Grant from Arts United, which was applied for by Collins, Forrest, and Molly Papier, assistant director of the Community Arts Academy in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“Our students are incredibly responsive to our PFW students,” Forrest said. “They love them and love to learn from them. They have been very engaged in creating their parts of the program, and the students look forward to PFW arriving on Wednesdays.”

Class time is full of lots of energy with each PFW student taking a group of LSA students. In preparation last fall, Collins asked Forrest to conduct a survey of the kinds of music his students were interested in. Because of their cultural backgrounds, the answers were varied, and there were too many ideas to tackle everything. Some of those interests included topics the PFW team had never heard of.

“It’s been really fun to see them jump into a situation that is definitely not their comfort zone,” Collins said. “Our students have that drive to serve the students by researching what they like. It really has been a joy to watch them go from excitement to overwhelmed to digging in to comfort. That’s what you want.”

The elementary students were invested from the start, saying they had never been asked about their favorite music before—especially not at school. Some are singing Meghan Trainor songs, and others are working on Nasheed music, a form of acapella hymns. There’s interest in Phonk, a genre started in the Memphis, Tennessee, underground hip-hop scene; some students are dancing to a K-pop band song; and others are designing posters featuring their favorite artists.

“I’ve learned that no matter what position you are in when teaching, whether you are in elementary, middle, or high school, as the music teacher, the students always look up to you,” Longsworth said.

Collins said in some ways the students have gone from being guests in the classroom to being part of the community. The PFW students are helping the youngsters prepare and polish several different kinds of presentations about their favorite forms of music for an April 17 production for parents, faculty, staff, and invited guests.

“Their music is important to them, and to us,” Collins said. “I can see that the PFW students and the fifth graders at Levan Scott are really proud of what they are coming up with. For some of them, the music they are interested in, they have never done in school before, so they are bringing that in a meaningful way. It’s been a great learning opportunity.”