'Keys to Achievement' program teaches youngsters music skills
By Ryan Loew, Lansing State Journal, Lansing, Mich. - 11/12/2008
Elmhurst Elementary School kindergartner Jennifer Harris has never had piano lessons before.
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Ryan Loew/Lansing State Journal
Taught by virtual Beethoven: Elmhurst Elementary
School kindergartner Jennifer Harris, 5, partici-pates in
the Keys to Achievement music education program in a technology
lab Tuesday morning at her school.
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But Tuesday morning, the 5-year-old
got a one-on-one lesson from a virtual Ludwig van Beethoven
via a computer in her school's technology lab.
Harris and other
students participated in an event kicking off "Keys to
Achievement," a new music education program donated to
six schools in the Lansing School District. Geared toward kindergartners
through second-grade students, the keyboard instruction program
guides students through two 25-minute sessions a week using a
software program called "Children's Music Journey."
Adams Outdoor Advertising, which is based out of Atlanta but
does business in Lansing, donated the full cost of the program,
including installing the software on schools' computers and
providing musical keyboards, according to the school district.
Lansing School District Superintendent
T.C. Wallace Jr. said he was grateful for the program, which
he hopes will "lay the foundation" to integrate arts
and academics at the participating schools.
"I think it's an extraordinary example of the power of
partnership," he said.
Other Lansing schools participating in the program include
Cavanaugh, Mt. Hope, North, Riddle and Wexford elementary schools.
Additional Facts
'Music journey'
• "Keys to Achievement" is a keyboard instruction
program that guides students through two 25-minute sessions
a week using a software program called "Children's Music
Journey."
