It’s wonderful to see our younger students respond so amazingly to music!

Mary Sousa, music teacher at Pakanasink, brings an infectious enthusiasm to her students.  Throughout the school year she introduces them to different types of music and artists, instruments and  styles.

In February, she focused on music by influential Black musicians. in some cases, it was an introduction to these artists; others, the kids knew. B.B. King, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Scott Joplin, Beyonce, to name a few. The students voted on their favorite musicians – two that they knew and two that they just discovered and wanted to learn more about.  Then the classes focused on one of each. This group of second-graders chose Bob Marley and B.B. King. 

Did you know that B.B. King, who is known for playing the blues, is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the R&B Hall of Fame? He is considered one of the best guitar players of all time!

The students had several activities that allowed them to cover a few musicians each class. All classes learned about the same musicians but with appropriate grade-level activities. 

When it came time to play along with a B.B. King song, Ms. Sousa’s second-graders rose to the occasion! She gave them a lesson on how to properly hold their mallets as they played. They were split into three different groups and each group hit their queue! 

Ms. Sousa talked about how Bob Marley used his music for activism. He spread love and peace with his music. They listened to “No More Trouble” where Marley said “What we need is more love.” He used his power to help other people.

They ended this particular class with a dance party, featuring Whitney Houston. There was so much joy throughout the class, capped off by dancing to the great Whitney Houston.