music in the schools

There are some top-shelf teachers in the Capital Region. I think I've visited all of the elementary instructors in my 20 years of doing this program. When you look up "top-shelf" in the dictionary though, Jamie Pink's photo will definitely be there! Here's another example of a great song that came out of her classroom.

What a class!  What a school!  What a teacher! What a great time! (I get excited when it goes as well as it did during my visit to Mrs. Brooks' class.)

Sometimes the short ones are the best.  This entire little ditty is only :30 long, but it didn't have to be any longer.  It says it all.  Great job from the kids at Taconic Hills Elementary as we try to spread the message that bullying is WRONG!  Hear their creation below.

What a great group. These kids were ROCKIN'!   Well, what else would you expect from Mrs Toher's classes?  Another great experience at Yates Elementary School  in Schenectady

I'm dying to come into a classroom and write a "Back to School" song.  Here's all you have to do..

Yes, it's true. I did a little digging and found out that this little side project started in 1995, so -I did the math and it hit me. WOW it's been 2 decades writing ditties with kiddies.

What a great time with such a diverse and fantastic group of kids (and counselors) in my very own stomping ground, Niskayuna.

I'm starting early, I know, but I'd like to get my calendar in order as soon as possible.  Here's your chance to get a FREE visit and have your kids create a song that's played on a huge radio station.  Guess which one?

This was a great group - and what I especially liked about it was the fact that this was a summer camp, and we actually wrote and recorded the song OUTSIDE in a little pavilion.

That's right.  You guessed it.  We never close here at the Reading, Writing and Rhyming Tour.  It continues long after the school year ends.  On to summer camps we go.  Here is the first one for the season - the Duanesburg Area Community Center.

No Richie - you're not allowed to play favorites here.  You are not allowed to say that I have just completed a class with one of the greatest teachers in the Capital Region.  That's not right!

I definitely found this to be the case when I visited "DCS," short for Delaware Community School. They have some very talented writers and singers there. In fact, they wrote and recorded this in less than an hour!