The Muse Project - Spring 2008 News

Dear Friends of The Muse Project,

Much has happened since my September newsletter to you.

This past October, a group of teachers met at the University of Pennsylvania with staff from The Penn Literacy Network. They were introduced to The Muse Project, given our newly recorded material, and focused on developing lesson plans for the three pieces. These teachers represented middle and high school, social studies and English classes. Their follow-up meeting was held in January '08. More on that later in the newsletter.

This past November, I introduced The Muse Project at Chapman University to Penny Bryan's master's level course, Democracy in America. After "telling my story," I played "You Will Go" (The Indian Removal Act of 1830) for the students who are teachers getting their Masters in Education. Penny and I guided them through a process culminating in writing their own lyrics to the Act With my keyboard in tow, together we wrote new music. These teachers felt the huge impact of the music as a form of aesthetic education. Penny has invited me to return to Chapman on April 10. This is a great opportunity to teach teachers how to utilize our materials in their classrooms.

Also during the month of November, The Muse Project held a brainstorming meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to expand our board of directors. Those in attendance came up with names of potential individuals. While we are still in this process, I am happy to announce that Joanne Culverhouse, Principal of Thurston Middle School, Laguna Beach, has agreed to be a member of our Advisory Board. We're thrilled she is willing to share her experience and expertise with us.

On January 12, I met with PLN staff and teachers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for their follow-up workshop. Hearing the lessons these teachers had developed based on our material, I was amazed with their innovative and creative ideas. They will be "turning in" their completed lessons by the middle of this month. These lesson plans will serve as a teacher's guide along with each piece of recorded music. PLN will proceed to market both of these items in their summer workshops. We, too, will be able to market the PLN guidebooks.

On January 14, I attended two classes. The first was a ninth grade social studies class in Lancaster, Pa. This class, instructed by Lara Paparo, PLN facilitator, had already been taught the lesson on The Indian Removal Act. (see article at themuseproject.org) The students selected another document, the Sedition Act of 1795. Lara divided the class into groups. Each group took a section of the act and wrote lyrics of their own. As at Chapman, a keyboard was made available to me, and together, we wrote new music to a new document. These kids really got into it....it was an amazing, exciting process to experience.

Later that afternoon, I attended a middle school class in Philadelphia. These students were 12-14 years-old. Their teacher, Joan Fox, had introduced them to The Declaration of Independence during a morning class. She prepared them to meet me and listen to the music during the afternoon. The most astounding result of this class was that the students felt the material was not too complex for them....They truly "got it"...felt the emotion of the music, which helped them understand the document.

Also in January, Penny Bryan and I met with Barbara Scholl, Director of Music at Capistrano Valley School District. Barbara is very excited about our work. She has asked me to prepare workshops for her music and social studies teachers. Also, she has expressed the desire to perform one of my pieces next year at their district chorus concert. Very exciting!!

AND...we still await word from the IRS regarding our 501c3 status. We know our application is currently being processed. Snail's pace.

Overall, so many good things are happening. It's wonderful and at times, overwhelming. Yet, we continue to grow.

Again, thanks to all of you for your continued support...

As ever,

Lynda Roth