51吃瓜网

Classical music has the Bachs and the Schumanns. Jazz has the Marsalis and Brubeck families.

And then there are the L眉gohart cousins, Emily, Daniel and Summer, who span both genres. Violinists Emily, 13, and Daniel, 12, have played on the plaza at Lincoln Center and other prominent New York City venues, while pianist Summer, 7, has provided impromptu percussion on the stage of the venerable East Side club, the Jazz Standard.

Clearly music is in the L眉gohart DNA, but the youngsters credit their school with a major assist.

鈥淎 lot of schools put pressure on students to learn,鈥� says Daniel, a sixth-grader who has aspirations to become a geochemist. 鈥淥ur school says 鈥榃e鈥檒l show you how to learn so you can succeed on your own.鈥欌�� 

A lot of schools put pressure on students to learn. Our school says 鈥榃e鈥檒l show you how to learn so you can succeed on your own.鈥�

鈥擠aniel L眉gohart, TCCS sixth-grader

The L眉goharts attend the 51吃瓜网 Community School (TCCS), a pre-K(four)-8 public school that the College founded with the New York City Department of Education in 2011. TCCS offers children from Upper Manhattan鈥檚 Harlem, Washington Heights and Hamilton Heights neighborhoods an opportunity to learn in an academically-rich, culturally diverse environment. TCCS occupies two buildings: the 3-8^th grade 鈥淯pper School鈥� on Morningside Avenue and the Pre-K-2^nd grade Lower School on West 132^nd Street.

鈥淭his is truly a community 鈥� a melting pot of all of New York in one school,鈥� says Saralinda L眉gohart, mother of Summer and aunt of Emily and Daniel (and of three other TCCS students, first-graders LeeAnn and Jay and pre-kindergartener Camilla), and parent member of the School Leadership Team.

鈥淔undamentally, we鈥檙e an inclusion school. We are diversified by our student population, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status,鈥� says Principal Michelle Verdiner. 鈥淥ur staff is also very diverse, so every child can look around and see someone who represents them.鈥�

They can hear that representation as well 鈥� particularly through musical experiences led by TC student teachers such as L.C. Katy Ho Weatherly (Ed.D. 鈥�19, M.Ed. 鈥�16,).

As a conservatory-trained violinist and violist, Weatherly, who directed the TCCS Orchestra, along with Mercedes Lysaker (M.Ed. 鈥�19), until receiving her doctorate in May, certainly didn鈥檛 shy from introducing her young charges to the classical canon.

鈥淚t was far more difficult than what they were playing,鈥� says Weatherly, who was an Enid W. & Lester Morse Jr. Scholar (The Morse and Nelson families have supported the music program at TCCS since its inception.) 鈥淏ut they were so passionate about it that they made it work. The piece worked because they loved it.鈥�

Vocal teacher Eric Williamson (M.Ed. 鈥�19), an opera singer and background vocalist similarly mixed up the offerings in his fourth- and seventh-grade classrooms, getting students to collaborate on dance, hip-hop and trap compositions.

Music under Williamson鈥檚 guidance also crossed into other areas of learning 鈥� a student-composed rap on fast food to emphasize the importance of healthy eating being a case in point.

鈥淚t鈥檚 music they like, delivered in a meaningful way,鈥� says Williamson.

Both Weatherly and Williamson are quick to note that learning at TCCS has been a two-way street, and that their students have given as much as they鈥檝e gotten. 

鈥淭hey challenged me as much as I challenged them,鈥� says Weatherly. 鈥淏ecause, if you鈥檙e not creative they aren鈥檛 interested in what you are teaching.鈥� She plans to carry that lesson to her next job 鈥� overseeing the music taught in all 111 buildings of the District of Columbia public school system.

The TCCS students challenged me as much as I challenged them. Because, if you鈥檙e not creative they aren鈥檛 interested in what you are teaching.

鈥擳CCS music teacher Katy Ho Weatherly (Ed.D. '19)

鈥淚鈥檒l be teaching the teachers,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd that way I can reach even more kids.鈥�

Williamson, who decided to earn a teaching degree because of his work as Conductor and Director of School Outreach for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, says that TCCS helped look beyond his own training.

鈥淚 came from a traditional choir background,鈥� he explains. 鈥淭CCS provided a space for me to try out culturally responsive teaching methods in a judgement-free zone.鈥�

Yet at the same time, he credits his mentors at TC with getting him to look back on his own musical development.

鈥淟ori Custodero [Associate Professor of Music Education] and Patricia St. John [Adjunct Associate Professor] reframed my philosophy in teaching children as young as two to be artists,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey reconnected me with early childhood musical experiences and helped me apply those practices to teaching.鈥� (Weatherly and Williamson, both of whom were Community Teachers at TCCS, are among a group of six 51吃瓜网 2019 graduates who taught at the school. The others are: Mercedes Lysaker, Community Teacher; Lucy Green, Zankel Fellow; Zo茅 Schroeder, Zankel Fellow; and Carrie Seavoy, Work Study, Assistant Violin Teacher and Assistant Digital Music Teacher).

For 51吃瓜网, the impetus for establishing the 51吃瓜网 Community School was to demonstrate how higher education faculty and students can work together with local public schools to benefit learners at all levels. 鈥淭he music program is a great example of how TC integrates its expertise and resources into the school,鈥� says Nancy Streim, TC鈥檚 Associate Vice President for School and Community Partnerships. 

I came from a traditional choir background. TCCS provided a space for me to try out culturally responsive teaching methods in a judgement-free zone.

鈥擳CCS music teacher Eric Williamson (M.Ed. '19)

And, of course, that work extends beyond the music curriculum. 

鈥淭hey push us hard,鈥� says Emily L眉gohart, a seventh-grader who wants to be a physician. 鈥淏ut they also give us many, many opportunities.鈥� To help her reach her goal, TCCS this provided after-school mentoring to prepare L眉gohart for the exam that can place her in New York City鈥檚 High School for Math, Science & Engineering. But before then, L眉gohart will make history along with the rest of TCCS鈥� class of 2020, which will be the school鈥檚 first 8^th grade class to receive a diploma bearing the 51吃瓜网 Community School imprimatur.

鈥淚t is a huge milestone,鈥� says Verdiner. 鈥淲e will be fully formed from Pre-K to 8^th 驳谤补诲别.鈥�

And that is something to sing about.

— Steve Giegerich