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Tarpon students Attend Summer Music Camp

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST NEWS

Derek Chaisson is a K-12 itinerant music teacher in Pinellas County public schools. Chaisson and others have organized a private music camp for children this summer that will meet in Tarpon Springs High School.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: June 21, 2008

This week, a small group of elementary students made music.

At a practice session at Tarpon Springs High School, some elementary schoolers began by assembling their orffs, instruments resembling xylophones. By the end of the practice, they had put together lessons about rhythm and chord progressions into a mini concert for their moms.

Their teacher was Derek Chaisson, a K-12 itinerant music teacher in Pinellas County schools and an adjunct staff member for the Tarpon Springs Leadership Conservatory of the Arts. He was nominated as the 2007-08 Pinellas County School District's Outstanding Educator of the Year and was Brooker Creek Elementary School Teacher of the Year.

Chaisson is about to embark on another teaching venture. He is one of the founders of the Summer Kids Conservatory at Tarpon High School for children ages 8 to 12. The music camp will run from Tuesday, June 24, to Friday, July 25.

The summer program is a private program created by Chaisson and another Pinellas public schools music teacher, Sandy Chambers. Since Chambers is due to give birth to her first child next week, Chaisson will teach the classes. Chambers' husband, George Chambers, is helping with finances.

Although the program has approval to meet in the high school, organizers emphasize it is not part of the Pinellas County School District. Children will not receive grades or credit for attending it.

But that doesn't mean it isn't unofficially supported by the schools. Schools back community involvement, noted Chambers. "They want you to give 110 percent, anything you can do to help children buy into school. If children are involved in the community, they are less likely to get pregnant or do drugs."

For added community participation, students from the Tarpon Springs Leadership Conservatory of the Arts, at Tarpon Springs High School, will help out.

Instruments the camp students will use come from Tarpon Springs and Sunset Hills elementary schools, making for a win-win situation, according to Chambers. "Having those kids take one week of camp will make a vast difference in what they remember when they come back to school."

In fact, it was those brief elementary school music periods that served as an impetus for the camp. Chambers noted she sees her elementary school music students at Tarpon Springs Elementary School 40 minutes a week. She feels that is not enough. "By the time you see them the following week, they've already forgotten what we worked on before."

During the five-week, half-day program, students will work on a variety of music ranging from Bach to the Beatles.

Curriculum, developed by Chambers and Chaisson, includes music theory, percussion instrument techniques, vocal technique and listening. Students will also study music history, movement with music and performance etiquette.

They will get a chance to perform at a weekly miniconcert and at a grand finale at the band shell on the bayou at the end of the program. "It's going through music 101 to performance," said Chambers.

Having fun leads Chaisson's goal for the students. Additional objectives include learning to work with others and bringing out the best of the music.

"We'll play together, learn music together and share the love we have," he said. He wants students to be able to perform playing a minimum of two different instruments by the end of the session.

The camp might have positive effects that carry over beyond music, noted Chambers. She pointed to a study conducted by a University of California at Irvine professor who found second-graders who were given music lessons scored significantly higher in math tests than those who did not.

Music also develops coordination and is a means of emotional expression, Chambers noted.

The program can accommodate up to 60 students. About 30 have already enrolled. Students can attend for any number of weeks.

Fees range from $360 for five weeks to $125 for one week. For more information, go to thesummerkidsconservatory.com.

Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 cbentley@suncoastnews.com.

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