Music program a hit at middle school

By: LORELL FLEMING - Staff Writer | Sunday, October 24, 2004 9:26 PM PDT ∞

BONSALL ---- Students at Norm Sullivan Middle School got a special opportunity to learn about music, and the science behind it, as part of the Bose In Harmony With Education program at the school last week.

All 600 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders at Sullivan participated in the program that included a multi-image show about sound and music. The students also had lessons about the nature of sound, and hands-on demonstrations using unique musical instruments.

Bose loaned the school hi-tech sound equipment for the presentations along with musical instruments and other learning materials that had a total value of about $30,000, according to Nancy Anderson, Bose's program manager in the Southwest.

"This opportunity means exposure to music," Sullivan band and choir teacher Stacy Sharpe said. "Sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students don't get music education unless they pick it for one of their electives. This way, we have 600 students exposed to music and learning how it works. That's exciting!"

Sharpe, and Sullivan science teacher Cheryl Miller taught the In Harmony classes.

The Massachusetts-based Bose Corporation produces hi-tech audio equipment. Bose partnered with The National Association for Music Education to develop the presentation, in which middle-school students could make connections between music and science. Bose usually extends the program to schools with no less than 1,000 students in order to "get the most bang for the buck," Anderson said.

"But when the school (leaders) contacted me and had so much enthusiasm about having the program, I had to say yes," she said.

Bose's program was a hit with students Jamie Garcia, 12, of Murrieta, and Danielle Rodriguez, 12, of Bonsall.

"It was cool," Jamie said. "Maybe if some students like music a lot after this, maybe we can become musicians or something like that."

Danielle said the program was fun and informative.

"I liked the movie (multi-image show)," Danielle added. "I learned that sound is a vibration, and it goes through the air, and that there is no sound in space because there's no air in space."

After learning about the science behind sound, and seeing the multi-image presentation about the nature of music, the students played some of the unique instruments as part of a makeshift band following Miller's science class.

"These type of programs are important to help the students keep the interest and motivation that will help them be a success in the classroom," Miller said. "Without Bose, we probably won't have gotten the equipment to do an educational program like this."

Anderson said she was pleased to have brought the program to Sullivan Middle School.

"Kids came up to me afterwards, when I was taking down the equipment, and they told me how cool it was and that they want us to come back next year," Anderson said. "That made it all worthwhile for me."

Contact staff writer Lorell Fleming at (760) 731-5798 or lfleming@nctimes.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, email addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.