One of the greatest joys as parents, teachers, coaches, youth workers and anyone else invested in the growth and development of children is to see them shine.
The David Z Foundation is pleased to announce that this Wednesday, December 29, a class of 1st graders at Paul J Rogers Elementary will be premiering their original English Language Arts song, “Adjectives”. It will premiere at 5pm and will be accompanied by a Facebook Live event. To follow David Z Foundation on Facebook and attend the live event, click here.
This song was made possible by funds raised in this past summer’s All Star Fundraiser. It was written over Zoom during the first semester of the 2021/22 school year. It To help facilitate discussion and open up response accessibility for the learners, Nearpod was utilized as a content delivery platform. The students could use collaborate boards and “Draw It” slides to engage in project based learning around adjectives. A whiteboard could be toggled on and off to display the developing lyrics. This mode of presentation was especially helpful to dual code the written words with visuals, as the average first grader is only at the beginning of their reading journey. The visual supports were especially helpful to equitably support participation for students who are English language learners as well as students with disabilities.
The song was begun at the end of September and was finished the last week of November. It was especially touching to find out during the songwriting process that Mrs. Thompson, our collaborating teacher, was a huge fan of David and his work with the Transiberian Orchestra. The official music video begins with a picture of David playing bass that Mrs. Thompson has posted on her bulletin board by her desk. After the song was written, artist Karine Da Silva, producer Thomas Ross Johansen, DZF CEO Paulie Z, and Grammy Award winning musician Dale Edward Chung came on the scene to create a professional track.
On December 6, Paulie Z, Karine, Dale and CAO Dan Roeder traveled down to the school to record the student vocals and shoot a full music video that was later edited by Gabriel Connor and Paulie Z. Student voice and choice is what drove the music video, including choreography developed by the students. The filming day was a long and exhausting day, including a fire drill and very hot weather, but the students were ROCK STARS! Everyone left with a smile on their face and the song on in their heart.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Mrs. Thompson, her administrators, the students and parents, and especially Colton Joint Unified School District for making this project possible. Thank you to Karine, Dale, Thomas at Strawhorse Studios, and Gabriel for work on the official video and Tony Cortes for editing the behind-the-scenes video.
We hope you can join us for the premiere on Wednesday, and If you would like more information on how to book a program at your school or organization, please contact us!