Next year, MTM will include a new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) Enrichment Program. This after-school experience, for students in grades four through six, will integrate music-making, instrument-building and hands-on activities to explore concepts like sound waves, frequency and pitch.
Kathy Bailey, GVF teaching artist, leads instrument building at Peary Middle School STEAM Fair
The 10-week program’s curriculum aligns with Math and Next Generation Science Standards and blends music therapy, physics and engineering into the lessons. Working with Grand Vision’s teaching artists, students will build instruments like shakers and box guitars and investigate how material, design and construction affect sound. Students and teaching artists will collaborate to create musical arrangements, which students will perform in a final show for peers, families and teachers.
MTM will incorporate Les Paul’s story into the STEAM Enrichment Program by highlighting his creation of the solid body electric guitar. Students will learn how he used materials, like steel railroad rails, to influence sound production and pitch. The students’ box guitar designs will reflect his model and teach them about sound and engineering.
Grand Vision would like to thank The Les Paul Foundation for their support, which will help foster students’ creativity and teamwork while connecting music to other school subjects.
