A New School Year!

Fifth House Ensemble Super Intern, Anna has written this post filling you in on all of our education happenings for the upcoming school year!  Go, Anna, go!  

After a summer of new music in Vermont, toy piano recitals, mutant carrots, and weekly inspirations, Fifth House Ensemble is gearing up...to go back to school!

Of course, massive amounts of planning and brainpower are going into our upcoming signature series, In Transit. But another Essential Element (music teacher pun!) of our group is going into schools and sharing our passion for music with students of all ages and backgrounds. This is nothing new to our musicians, who in the past have brought poetry, astronomy, body systems, games of hot potato, you-name-it into the schools of the greater Chicago area.

So what is new on our back-to school list this year? Check it out!

1) A strategic, year-long partnership with Cambridge Lakes Charter School: Something we've never done before is to help all the teachers in one school develop the resources and knowledge they need to use music in every subject of every grade. This is no small feat, but with the help of professional development seminars, a long list of music resources, and a close connection with the school, our education team will thrive in its new academic community!

2) A 15-week residency through Ravinia's Reach*Teach*Play program: While we're no strangers to the amazing programs that Ravinia offers, this residency will be the longest and Holst-iest of its kind. Using the standards for music education as strict guidelines, a journey through "The Planets" will ensure that everyone has a blast in the classrooms! That's one small step for 5HE...

3) New techniques in assessment and higher education: This year, portfolio collections in the classrooms will help us to learn even more from our students and to show off their hard work. And a new program with Carthage College will work towards classroom visits by college students. Now that's a bright idea!

And like every teacher, we love a little teacher appreciation love. Hopefully another great year will produce more beautiful thank you cards like these! (Who doesn't love hearing that their music "felt like a bird out of it's cage and a butterfly out of it's cocoon?") See you in the classroom!