In late November Trenton Public School superintendent, Mr. James Earle, joined an MVY session at Carolyn Stokes Preschool (pictured below). He sang (very much impressing the class with his booming bass voice), danced with scarves, and flew like a blackbird in a dyad with a student. December brought the return of a longstanding holiday tradition at Katzenbach School for the Deaf - a Holiday Music Party with families, students, and MVY staff. The opportunity to provide families the chance to better understand the power of music and create community has been sorely missed; it is hoped that these opportunities will continue. In January and February families joined their preschoolers for "Family Music Parties", where multiple generations gather to sing and dance with their students. In May Teaching Artists joined classroom teachers and families in graduation and promotion ceremonies throughout Ewing and Trenton.
Meet our Program Director, Kelsey Swanson
Kelsey joined the team in 2015 as the Project Coordinator for our Trenton Makes - Words! partnership project with the Children’s Home Society of NJ and the New Jersey State Museum, then as a Music for the Very Young Teaching Artist, and now the Early Childhood Program Director since 2020. From the beginning she brought to the role deep knowledge of children, from her years as a Montessori educator, a youth sexuality educator, a diversity and inclusion facilitator, a Music Together teacher, and a mentor for youth-led tutoring programs. She loves to support young learners, colleagues, school partners, and families through continuous dialogue and life-long learning. Kelsey holds a B.A. in Sociology and Gender Studies from Manchester University and a Master of Education in Global Education Policy from the University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign.
Did you know?
In 2003, (then known as the Trenton Community Music School) was awarded a Federal Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination grant, in partnership with the Trenton Board of Education, to provide MVY services to all 23 of the district's preschool classes housed in the elementary schools, over three years. The award was the only one for a pre-K program. The grant provided resources to focus on language and literacy development implicit in early music learning and gave classroom teachers tools for integrating this powerful learning medium into their daily classroom activity. As one participating classroom teacher noted, "This program isn't just about music, it's about how children learn".
CAPITAL HARMONY WORKS | ANNUAL REPORT 2022-23
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