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CLARKS SUMMIT — Fourth-grade students at Newton Ransom Elementary School stepped outside the boundaries of ordinary class instruction for a few weeks and that was just fine with their teachers and administrators.
Through the school’s Arts Alive program, funded by AEIO and You, the Abington Heights Educational Improvement Organization, artist-in-residence Adam Maalouf took the youngsters on a musical journey around the globe.
Arts Alive incorporates literature, poetry, visual arts, performing arts and more into the curriculum throughout the school year.
With the guidance of Maalouf, the students performed “A Breath of Life” for their fellow classmates, teachers, and parents at Abington Heights Middle School on March 6.
“From the minute he arrived at his welcome assembly, he jumped right in and started teaching,” fourth-grade teacher Brian Saslo said. “There is a natural teacher inside him as well as a musician. The connection between the arts and education is more powerful than people realize. By seeing it and reading it, feeling it and dancing it, the students take away more than any textbook can ever give them.”
According to Saslo, the students were afforded many hands-on learning experiences through the program.
“They sat down with (Adam) in a mini recording studio, put their headphones on and felt like they were the artists themselves,” he said. “There was something personally they took from that experience.”
Newton Ransom Elementary School Principal Amy Williams agreed that Maalouf’s time with the students was invaluable.
“We try to integrate art, music and dance into our curriculum as much as we can while still meeting the standards of the state,” she said. “We’re really pleased with how much Adam worked with the students and how he helped stretch them a little bit. They worked beyond what they’re comfortable with and got a little stronger with public speaking and public performance.”
Maalouf cherished his time with the students and believes they were moved by his musical talents and enthusiasm.
“For me, the biggest joy was being able to expose them to different musical cultures from around the world, from India to the Middle East, Africa and Latin America,” Maalouf, 24, of Brooklyn, N.Y., said. “We talked about Cuba and the United States recent open relations with the country, I thought that was relevant to give the students a sense of global perspective musically in the arts.
“They all had a lot of enthusiasm to learn about the subject matter and I think that has to do with the type of energy that I’m bring to the teaching. They see how much fun I’m having and they want to be able to create the same types of feelings.”
Fourth-grade teacher Rebecca Kameroski discovered Maalouf while visiting Washington Square Park in New York City over the summer and thought he would be a good fit for this semester’s program.
“We knew we were going to do a program on the ocean,” she said. “It was an incredible experience to bring him into our classrooms. Every child got to drum, to sing, to move, and they all wrote poetry.”
Kameroski added that Maalouf also integrated math into the curriculum through geometry and fractions during the musical performances.
Maalouf had a particular impact on Alea Dorunda, a member of Kameroski’s class.
“It was so exciting,” she said of Maalouf’s tutelage. “He taught us so many rhythms and now when I grow up I really want to play the drums. I was excited about performing in front of other people because it’s just so fun to do it.”