Finding Their Voice

As I prepared for my second year of teaching at YAMA this fall, I forced myself to look ahead to the darker days of winter when the gloss of learning a new instrument starts to fade and motivation issues set in. In the beginning, classroom management is made easy by the fact friendships haven't yet blossomed and the student's eagerness to impress their new teacher. This is when the kids are the spongiest, eager and ready to take on the responsibilities of being a YAMA kid. It is a golden opportunity for the teachers to prepare the kids for the high standards of behavior we expect in the program. I knew that if I was able to set a tone that nurtured responsibility, curiosity, and pride, that when we faced challenging times, these roots would help keep us strong.

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Movement while playing

They've seen the previous year's YAMA orchestra at school assemblies, heard about the many concerts throughout the year, and seen the buses coming to pick up students for field trips. We talk about respecting our peers, the importance of staying quiet while the teacher is talking, and taking care of our instruments. While these guidelines are crucial, there is a greater need at the heart of the matter.

We can all relate to feeling insecure in a group setting. The fear of making a mistake or some kind of social faux pas can immobilize us, ultimately creating walls that will prevent us from doing our best learning and shining our brightest. I wanted to get to the roots of those apprehensions. How could I make every child feel safe and understand the essential role they play in making their classmates feel the same way?  

Conducting Beethoven's 9th

ROUTINE

I spent a lot of time creating routine with the kids in the early weeks.  As humans, we rely on routines to help guide our actions.  Once routines are established, especially positive and healthy ones, we feel safe exploring, expressing creativity and demonstrating vulnerability.  One of our favorite routines in the Preludio violin section is going from rest to play position.  Always the same five steps, always done to the best of our abilities, and always looking for ways to make it better.

Keeping a routine gives the students time to practice a very specific set of skills, and while review can sometimes lead to sighs or eye-rolls, it's ultimately showing each student that they can do something very well.  There is a fine line between the excitement of learning something new and the frustration at not being able to do it right away.  Insert a routine and a reminder that this skill was once difficult, and group morale is immediately boosted.  

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Always rosin your bow before playing.

TRUST & VULNERABILITY

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Always do your best

Two words that are challenging and frightening for all of us, yet without these in place how can we have strive, explore, and express?  I often have students play for one another. Mistakes are always made, second and third chances given, and my response usually goes something like this, “That was very brave of you to play for us. I loved the way you went for it and how your classmates listened quietly. Thank you for sharing that with us.” I've had students avoid eye contact with me, begging me not to ask them to 'perform,' yet after experiencing positive reinforcement every student is now eager to share their very best music making.

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Peer Teaching

Peer teaching is another way to build trust among the students, and an opportunity to learn a very specific skill. There is a silent understanding, an exchange of vulnerability and trust between 'teacher' and 'student' that creates a tangible feeling of empowerment and pride.

The incoming YAMA kids walk through the door their first day knowing that they are going to be a part of something special. As teachers, we have the opportunity to go beyond teaching the skills needed to play an instrument.  The students are handing us their trust, and it's up to us to cultivate an environment where they feel safe to show vulnerability, discover pride, and find their voice.

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YAMA Preludio violins and violas

-Jenny Humphrey, Teaching Artist

My Story

My name is Alex Pualani and I am a teaching artist at YAMA. I began the cello at age 10 in the Yakima School District at Martin Luther King Elementary School. I remember going to the gym on instrument trial day and picking my top 5 instruments.

1. Flute
2. Sax
3. Trombone
4. Violin 
5. Cello

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6th Grade Alex

Instruments were passed out alphabetically, so by the time they reached my name my only option left was the cello. This turned out to be for the best.

I loved every moment behind my instrument.

My teacher was a cellist with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra and was incredibly attentive to my hunger to learn more. Mrs. Baisinger would give me lessons if I stayed after class and helped her clean up the room, or organize music. In middle school she came to my house to pick me up to take me to Davis High School so that I could play with the older kids during zero period. Orchestra was the most exciting time of my day. When there was a drive-by at my middle school and my parents pulled me out to home school me for the remainder of the year, I still came to school to play with the orchestra every class meeting. Without such a dedicated teacher, I know music wouldn’t play such a large role in my life.

One of my best friends picked up the cello as well. We played together through most of high school, but eventually he had to cut some of his activities, and orchestra had to go. His parents had purchased him a great cello that would no longer be of use, so they lent it to me.

When a music-hungry kids gets a great sounding instrument, it’s like throwing gas on a fire!

That act of kindness by Mike and Kay Funk, giving me a cello, made possible a future of performing and teaching music and I am so happy that I am now able to effect the next generation of Yakima Musicians

I feel a very strong connection with my students in Yakima Music en Acción (YAMA). Not just because we play music together five days a week, or because they laugh at all of my music jokes, but because I am from where they are from. Many of the same struggles they have felt, I have felt. I have lived in the same neighborhoods and gone to the same schools as YAMA students, and I am so excited about what we have created together.

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Cello Sectional

On any given day in the Garfield neighborhood where YAMA is housed, you could hear the sounds of a pick-up soccer match, police sirens, children’s laughter, gunshots, lock-down announcements, and reverberating from the gym - a Mozart symphony.

YAMA is shining a light, focused on what Yakima could be. A place where students and families feel safe. A place where the emphasis is on creation and sharing those creations. A place that everyone can be proud of; members, families, and the greater community alike.

Our YAMA students fight every day to be heard above the violence present in our neighborhoods, the poverty all around us, and the voices of those that doubt the power of music. Every day the music grows stronger, the community grows stronger, and we turn down the volume on the many “distractions” that plague us.

The YAMA staff is made up of a diverse group of Teaching Artists who are constantly and feverishly innovating in the classroom and beyond to best serve our YAMA families. Through the staff and our partners, students have access to a world that used to be reserved for only the select few.

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The next generation

We currently serve over 60 students with 10+ hours of high quality music instruction a week. Through music, YAMA Teaching Artists like me help to instill qualities that will make all of our students successful in the future; confidence, risk-taking, communication, conflict resolution, leadership, public-speaking, and so much more.