Students designed, planned, and executed a music festival in which they also performed at. The festival included other local acts and food trucks that were booked by students. They were assigned to bands, and learned their instruments through practicing their songs together. Students also wrote “Genius Lyric” style songs reflecting on Africa’s vibrant culture and how it was affected by imperialism.

Teacher Reflection

This project turned out to be more transformative than I anticipated. The relationships that grew within the bands and team in the process of putting on this music festival was the true gem of this project, on top of the shift in mindsets of what they are capable of doing. In this iteration, students only performed covers, and in the following iteration I will have them perform their original songs.

—Oscar

Student Reflections

“This project gave me a reason to want to come to school.”

“Music taught me that you can’t cheat your way.”

“Music taught me that there is a process to everything.”

“Music helped me improve my work ethic and become more patient.”

“This project about music has made me more open minded, empathetic, and a lot happier.”

“It’s allowed me to connect with a group of individuals, my band. We’ve learned to play, and play with each other.”

“Because I gave myself a chance and I believed in myself and that brought me closer to my community.”