Julie Duty - Founder and Executive Director, United Sound
As educators, we know we should include every child in our music programs, but too often, this is easier said than done. Your already over-full classes aren’t conducive to beginners. You don’t have any extra staff, and you certainly don’t have extra time. Most of us have never received any training for teaching children with disabilities. You might not know where to begin, what resources or curriculum to use, or who to ask for help!
And yet…there are so many children whose lives could be changed in a music classroom like yours. (Check it out: you’ll find that 9-15% of your school population receives special education services.)
United Sound exists to bridge this gap. As music educators ourselves, we knew we needed to create a program that could make including every potential music-maker possible for every music teacher. How? Through the incredible power of peer mentorship.
"This experience has reinforced to me the amazing power of music to reach a child in ways that classroom learning cannot. Our New Musicians and Peer Mentors have all grown as musicians, but more importantly, they have grown as humans, forging a common bond through the creation of art and beauty.”
Bill Bitter - Orchestra Director, Highland High School (Gilbert, Arizona)
We provide three main avenues of support:
Training. We’ll help you to feel ready to teach every child and give you the tools to train your own students in their roles as mentors. You don’t have to know anything new to get the process started.
Staffing. We can’t add employees to your program (wouldn’t that be great?!) but United Sound turns your students into teachers. Musicians as young as 6th grade, with just one year of experience themselves, are amazing mentors and friends.
Curriculum. United Sound is an out-of-the-box solution. With method books, flash cards, training videos, permission slips, lesson plans, t-shirts, swag, and more, this will be one area of your teaching day where you won’t have to create anything. Think of it like a buffet: take whatever you’d like and leave some parts behind, but you don’t have to do any of the cooking.
How does it work?
United Sound is a peer mentoring club that usually meets once each week. Students are paired 3:1 with three Peer Mentors for each one New Musician. Peer Mentors follow the provided plans to teach each New Musician at a personally modified level. Using foods and colors to make music reading easy, every New Musician will be able to succeed and perform at their own personal best. Students will teach and learn together, aiming toward performances that highlight the musical skills the New Musicians have learned and the successful teaching done by the Peer Mentors. Performing together, students, parents, administrators, and teachers will experience music-making as never before- all as a part of your “regular” program. United Sound isn’t about being special or moving mountains. We want to help you include every child in a seamless way.
Our concert in the Spring was highlighted by the United Sound performance. One of our Mentee Graduates asked if he could speak to the audience. Of course I said yes...and he thanked everyone for letting him be in the band and how much it meant to him to have good friends and be a part of the school in this way. I literally couldn't speak and we all were in tears.”
Robert Carrington - Band Director, Hough High School (Charlotte, North Carolina)
How much does it cost?
The first year start-up fee for new chapters of United Sound is $2,500 but thanks to a few very generous sponsors, ALL interested Illinois chapters are completely free. After your first year, each participant is asked to pay an optional $25 per year fee that helps us to cover the cost of all the materials and swag we’ll send to them. (Illinois sponsors include: the D’Addario Foundation, the Paul Angell Foundation, the Country Music Association Foundation, and several other corporate and private donors.)
Ready to learn more?
Check out our website! The Overview page is specifically for teachers and you’ll be able to watch students in action and preview the curriculum.
Contact us! Send an email to [email protected]. We’d love to chat about how to make this work at your school!