Today's Country - 107.7 WGNA » Reading, Writing, & Rhyming

Richie Writes Song With Kids From Indian Lake Virtually Thanks To NERIC: Reading, Writing and Rhyming

Richie Phillips — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:30:38 +0000

Another first, ladies and gentlemen. Through the use of magic teleconferencing technology at NERIC (Northeastern Regional Information Center) in Albany, I was able to pull this off. This was a blast to try out. You can see the results below. OK, so here’s what happened. I got an email from a very nice teacher WAY [...]

Schoharie Elementary Rewrites Little Big Town's Pontoon – Reading, Writing and Rhyming

Richie Phillips — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:10:00 +0000

Ahhhhhhh! A dream realized. I got a chance to return to a school that brought back so many amazing memories for me personally- Schoharie Elementary School. What can I say about teacher Karen Yager and Principal MaryEllen Gillis that hasn’t been mentioned before? I could go on and on about their dedication and committment to [...]

Teacher Faith Perry From Mohonasen School Takes A Stand Against Bullying In A Very Creative Way

Richie Phillips — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:46:39 +0000

Her name is Faith Perry. She is an alternative education teacher at Mohonasen school. If this story doesn’t make you think twice about dissing today’s teachers, nothing will. A very grateful former classmate, Kevin March, alerted us to this story, and I just HAD to pass it on. In fact, rather than me trying [...]

Shaker Road Elementary Kids Create Countryfest 2013 Jingle For Schagticoke – Reading, Writing and Rhyming

Richie Phillips — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:10:05 +0000

Chalk up another fun and rewarding experience – this time working with students in Mrs. Bushey’s class at Shaker Road Elementary School in Colonie. Some extremely talented jingle writers were on hand, so I put them to work immediately to write a Countryfest song! As you might have heard (arrf arrf), Countryfest 2013 is coming [...]

Delaware Community School In Albany Will Not Put Up With Bullying -Reading Writing and Rhyming [AUDIO]

Richie Phillips — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:10:31 +0000

I met a group of fantastic kids who wouldn't even THINK of bullying another. That's a relief, because there is so much of it going around these days. I asked if they wanted to write a quick "Don't Be A Bully" jingle, and they were "all about it". Welcome to another stop on the Reading, Writing, and Rhyming Tour

Birchwood Elementary School Sings Their Anti Bullying New Hit On 'GNA – Reading, Writing and Rhyming [AUDIO]

Richie Phillips — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:16:09 +0000

Now THIS is a great school. Actually, they’re ALL great schools to be honest. The Albany Area is chock full of them. I should know, I’ve probably visited all of them at least once.Birchwood Elementary in Niskayuna is especially near and dear to my heart because my son is a former student. He had a fantastic [...]

WGNA's Richie Phillips Honored With Community Service Award

Stephanie McMaster — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:39:39 +0000

Congratulations to a very deserving Richie Phillips for being honored with the 2013 Friend of the Academy for Character Education Award for his leadership in “furthering the character education initiative in the Capital Region!” The award is given on behalf of the Community Advisory Board and the Educator Leadership Board at the Academy for Character [...]

Molly Stark Kids Change The Words To Dierks Bentley's "5150″ To Sing About Their School In Bennington, Vermont – Reading, Writing, and Rhyming [AUDIO-VIDEO]

Richie Phillips — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:05:11 +0000

What a group! What a school! (I get yelled at with these articles for using the exclamation point too many times, but I don’t care. What a FANTASTIC experience going to Molly Stark Elementary School in Bennington!!!!!!!!!! (So there!!!!!!!) Cathy Reed along with Ms. Setzer (not Seltzer), and Mrs. Mattison have my sincere gratitude for [...]

Charlton Heights Kids Believe In Teamwork! – Reading, Writing and Rhyming [AUDIO]

Richie Phillips — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:47:57 +0000

Mrs Brooks – what a great teacher. I always enjoy barging in on her classroom with keyboard in hand. This year was no exception. These kids came ready to sing! Ladies and Gentlemen -presenting the second graders from Charlton Heights Elementary School! Here’s the awesome class and equally awesome teacher, Mrs. Brooks. Teamwork. That’s [...]

Slingerlands Elementary Says "Call Me Healthy" – Reading Writing and Rhyming [AUDIO]

Richie Phillips — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 03:37:42 +0000

I’m leaving for vacation, but I’m doing it with a smile on my face. I can thank the incredible teachers and kids at Slingerlands Elementary for that. Take a listen to this great parody of “Call Me Maybe“. I have been to Mrs. Bacher’s class before. Her group was great then, and certainly didn’t [...]

Bethlehem Children's School Is Looking For Your Help -Reading, Writing and Rhyming Extra

Richie Phillips — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:46:00 +0000

There’re so many schools struggling right now to stay afloat. I happen to have visited the school just within the past several weeks. They are looking for your donations to keep it going and have posted a video about it that I thought was important to share Bethlehem Children’s School is an independent school doing [...]

The Bethlehem Children's School Raps – Reading, Writing and Rhyming [AUDIO][VIDEO]

Richie Phillips — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:34:34 +0000

On Wednesday, I visited The Bethlehem Children's School and spent some time writing and recording a song with the elementary and middle school kids. One of the unique things about this school is the multi-age classrooms. Kids in grades 1 through 5 are grouped together in the Elementary class, and grades 6 through 8 are grouped together in the Middle School class. I didn't work with the younger kids, but the school also has a pre-k program. Take a listen (there's also a video included)

New Way To Teach Math – Using Rap Music. Meet Jake Scott-2 Pi [VIDEO]

Richie Phillips — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:28:57 +0000

I think this is fantastic, but maybe you don’t. Maybe you are a traditionalist when it comes to education. Perhaps you feel that the only way to get kids’ attention is to entertain them. Sorry, folks, but I love this guy. His name is Jake Scott. According to Yahoo trends, he teaches math at Montgomery [...]

Your Child's Work Could Get Published Very Easily With BoomWriter

Richie Phillips — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:57:29 +0000

You’ve heard of Reading, Writing and Rhyming? Now we have Reading, Writing and Publishing! This is a fantastic new service I can get kids to really work on the writing skills plus get their work out there with Boomwriter Here’s the short description. The teacher signs up for the service at Boomwriter.com. A professional author [...]

Green Meadow School is The Place To Be , and It's All In The Attitude – Reading, Writing and Rhyming [AUDIO]

Richie Phillips — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:16:19 +0000

I had a fantastic time at the Green Meadow School in the Schodack/Castleton area today with my favorite little moonlighting job – the Readin’ Writing and Rhymin Tour. This appearance was actually a prize won at a fundraising event, (thanks Mrs. Bertrani!) so I wanted to make it special, and it was! First and foremost, [...]

What Is The Longest Word In The English Language? Hint – It Has Over 18,000 Letters

Richie Phillips — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 12:41:09 +0000

This is for real, folks. I’m speechless over this. so is the guy who attempts to say the word, because it took him over 3 hours. I don’t want to go long here. There’s enough print on the page without me. But if you thought Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was the longest word in our language, that’s [...]

All Saints Academy First Graders Want More Than A Hippopotamus For Christmas -Reading, Writing and Rhyming [AUDIO][GALLERY]

Richie Phillips — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:30:17 +0000

The kids from Mrs. Reilly’s class at the All Saints Academy love the song ”I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas“. Unfortunately, Santa is going to need a part time job, because that’s not ALL these kids want! Take a listen What is very ironic about this song is that it was recorded THE YEAR I [...]

"Wind And Water" – Song For Hurricane Sandy Relief From NY's Poestenkill Elementary and Richard Stockton School in Cherry Hill, NJ [AUDIO]

Richie Phillips — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:48:41 +0000

This was a tremendous labor of love by all involved. It's still a work in progress, but we wanted to get this up on the web to hear what we have so far. Here's the ALMOST finished collaborative production between two classes who have never met each other - a true experiment in the use of modern technology

Poestenkill, NY Kids Join With Cherry Hill NJ To Create Song For Hurricane Sandy Relief – Reading, Writing and Rhyming

Richie Phillips — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:45:15 +0000

I can hardly contain myself this morning. This is exciting stuff, and for such a worthy cause too . This at this writing is a work in progress. Let’s call this “Wind and Water, Part 1” . So my wife, Dorrie and I went to Ms. Jeschke’s 5th grade class over at the Poestenkill [...]

Lee, Massachusetts Kids Have Written A Great Anti-Bullying Song – [AUDIO]

Richie Phillips — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 14:26:53 +0000

It’s rare when I actually get a chance to drive to another state, which is technically what I did recently. Lee Elementary School in Lee, Massachusetts was where I ended up last week, and I’m dying to go back. What a teacher! What a class! Special thanks to elementary teacher Ms. Whalen along with Miss [...]