Old Town School – On The Road

Dispatches from the road from our wayfaring travelers.

¿Por qué estan en México?

I suppose we should tell you what’s going on with this trip. The Old Town School, through grants from the MacArthur Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council, is sending teachers to many different countries this year. (You can read more about the program on Bau’s Blaug.)

The hope is to broaden the awareness, through face-to-face encounters, of the Old Town School. We are in México to build communication lines that can someday be used to facilitate exchanges of teachers, students, music and methodologies.

I’m one of five teachers traveling through México this January. As you probably know, my name is Jason and I teach in the kids and adults guitar programs. I also guide The Young Stracke All-Stars made up of students from the Old Town School. In addition I teach general music at Rogers Park Montessori.

There are four other teachers with me in México. I’ll let them tell their own stories, but here’s a quick overview of these wonder people. Shana teaches Wiggleworms, and Wiggleworms en español. Anacron teaches breakdancing at the school and through the Old Town School’s Global Roots program in the Chicago Public Schools. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned about Hip-Hop culture in just a day and a half with Anacron. Lani teaches the music and dance of the Pacific Islands. Read more about Lani in my next post. Our jefe is Gail. Sometimes she gets the lable of being “just the administrator” but she’s much more than that. She has taken on the daunting responsibility of being the the ring leader for this musical circus. She’s great at making sure everything gets done. She’s also a teacher for the Early Country ensemble and is a wonderful singer. In fact, when I was just a student at the school in 2001, I took Early Country Ensemble. Gail was one of my first teachers!

So that’s us. We’re in México, D.F. for one more day and then we’re on to Morelia and then to Veracruz, where we’ll attend the Encuentro de Jarañeras. There’s a few stops along the way, a few long bus rides and I’m sure plenty of music and adventure.

Thanks for reading. Drop us a line if you can. Stop back soon.

Jason

Filed under: Mexico,Notes from Jason by Jason | January 23, 2009 | Comments (1)


1 Comment so far

  1. Lynn Garren on January 28, 2009 7:33 am

    OMG – Veracruz. Wonderful music! And some wonderfully unique instruments as well. Wish I could be attending the Encuentro, I’m sure it will be fabulous.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Share your thoughts