Middle School Handbells!
Eighth grade handbells during Thanksgiving Food Blessing
For many years, as in many other schools, our Middle School music course consisted of the same thing as our elementary music course, only at a higher level. Over time, we noticed that it was very difficult to get self-conscious, voice-changing adolescents to sing!
In 1998, Mrs. Clausen, our principal at that time, asked me if I would teach jr. high music (the junior high became the middle school in 2007), since that year all my children would be attending school. I said I would, but only if it could be something hands-on and different. A parishioner had offered to purchase bells and equipment for the parish, so the program was launched at little cost to the school. After a summer of intensive research and preparation, we were off into the land of bells!
It has been a very positive journey for the last ten years. The students are able to put into practice the musical learnings they have acquired through singing, keyboard, Orff instruments, and guitar experience. They synthesize this knowledge with the new skills they learn in handbell class and their own abilities to listen and cooperate. They are so busy coordinating all these different things that discipline is rarely a problem!
Having a unique 7th- and 8th-grade music experience serves to set the Middle School apart from the lower grades; it gives the younger students something to look forward to; and it gives them an opportunity to be surrounded by beauty, which helps them to find God. Even wrong notes played on handbells are in tune and have a lovely sound! The students are able to put their skills at the service of the community by playing for school Masses and assemblies. Each year they play for the general public at Crossroads Mall, and have also played at other schools to inspire them in their efforts to form a handbell choir. We strive for excellence from the beginning of 7th grade.
We address the Elements of Music as identified by our State Arts Education Mandate: beat/rhythm, expression, form, harmony, melody, notation, pitch, texture, and timbre/tone color. All this, plus ensemble skills, can be learned in the context of playing in a group. The students are engaged heavily during class. Tests are infrequent and no homework is given. Grading is based on effort and progress. The progress that our hardworking students make in 40 minutes per week is amazing!
Mrs. Gunderson pgunderson@hfkschool.org
