Mrs. Ashley Hall joined the Tekonsha Community School's staff this school year as our new K-12 music teacher. Mrs. Hall started her career expecting to be a HS band teacher after she finished her student teaching at Pennfield Schools. However, she found herself with an elementary teaching position at Kalamazoo Public Schools for a number of years, where she learned how to make music come alive for the younger students! As a resident of Athens, she was excited for the Tekonsha position, which brings her closer to home and also allows her to blend both of the age groups in one job! The enthusiasm and innovation that she has brought to both buildings has been exciting to see. Last Friday night, the HS band suited up in their marching uniforms and completed a full half-time show. They were proud to show off the newly replaced bass drum heads, proudly sporting our Tekonsha Community Schools logos! We look forward to seeing the marching band back in action at both the Tekonsha and Marshall Christmas parades!
Mrs. Hall has also been teaching a music appreciation elective course, for both middle school and high school students. Last week, the students learned about the different instrument families, and as they wrapped up their unit on brass instruments, the HS students had some fun testing out a variety of brass instruments in class. They had a lot of fun “tooting their own horn!”
Elementary students made some "ghostly" rhythms in Mrs. Hall's music classes this past week, too! Students in grades K-2 used manipulatives to compose rhythms, practicing iconic notation (using icons in place of standard notation) by using the laminated ghost flashcards and saying "ghost" and "little" for their rhythms. They then practiced transposing their compositions into standard notation by saying "ta" and "ti-ti" for quarter notes and eighth note pairs.