The Fleurette Sweeney Fellowship was initiated in 2010 to honor Music EdVentures founding member and teacher extraordinaire, Dr. Fleurette Sweeney. In her words, the impetus behind this initiative is “the well being of children brought about by supporting, caring, and excellently prepared teachers.” By designating a teacher as an Emerging Pioneer, we aim to foster the development of teachers who believe in, support, and share their expertise in the principles and practices of the SongWorks approach. Primarily, the Fleurette Sweeney Fellowship is designed to assist conference attendance for those teachers who are designated as Emerging Pioneers (EP) in Music Education.
This year’s Emerging Pioneers offer their reflections on attending the 2025 SongWorks Conference in Dallas below.
Kayla Buchanan
I had a great time at the SongWorks conference and learned so many things from all of the wonderful teachers that presented. I really like that SongWorks guides our teaching but it does not limit what we can do. The principles allow everyone’s personality to shine through in their teaching. As I attended the conference I noticed that every principle was present and every presenter was playful!
As a new teacher coming from a school district with a very strict curriculum, I spent this conference trying to find small ideas that I can take into my classroom to allow my personality to shine through. During the observation I noticed that Alice handled the behaviors by redirecting here and there instead of correcting each behavior over and over. She was able to transition her lesson to help gain the attention of the students rather than getting frustrated with the students. This showed me how it is important to have the learning be the responsibility of both the learner and the teacher. I love how much movement was involved over the weekend—sometimes I forget the power of movement. Even a simple movement into another area of the classroom was so effective, from sitting in a bunch, to then a circle, to dancing, to sitting, to running. Moving in different ways helped us demonstrate responsiveness to the music. As I plan lessons in the upcoming weeks of school I am excited to add more purposeful movement into the class and see how engaging it can be for my students.
One thing that was reinforced for me is that playing is holistic for our students. With my curriculum I sometimes feel that I have to be very strict in what, when, and how I will teach. At the conference, I was able to see how playful teaching helps encourage the student to learn. I don’t have to show the notation every class and teach them how to count a simple song the first time they see it; instead I can let them experience the song, the game, and the concepts before getting into direct explanation.
I am grateful for the opportunity to attend the conference as an Emerging Pioneer and share my teaching experience with SongWorks so far. I am grateful for the community of educators in SongWorks that made me feel loved and heard and supported as a new member and a beginning teacher. I am excited to continue to apply the principles of SongWorks into my teaching as I find more ways to play!
Kalina Stokes
This April, educators worldwide gathered to commune together and partake in a musical feast. Presenters brought “dishes” from their diverse backgrounds, musical experiences, and unique classrooms. SongWorks principles were “ingredients” that gave cohesion to the offerings. These principles provided us with a shared language and understanding with one another.
As I reflected on my experience at the conference, I wrote down a list of all of the dishes I wanted to take back to Virginia Beach for my students to try. The week following the conference, my third-grade students were delighted by “El Flóron” as taught by Debanhi Garcia, in some cases puzzling out a new language and in others feeling the pride of being an expert in Spanish. My kindergarten and first-grade students spent the week delighting in acting out “The Old Gray Cat” as taught by Emilee Knell. My second-grade students benefited from the offerings of Alice Nordquist during the observation, singing “Fly Away, Little Birdie” over and over as they imagined, explored the classroom space, and created maps of the song. Lower elementary students puzzled out the teacher-made map shared by Alison Carter for Edvard Grieg’s “Morning Mood” and basked in the silliness of hitting “snooze” over and over as they listened to the music. Fifth graders embraced the silliness of Anna Shelow’s “There Ain’t No Flies on My Ukulele” verse-writing lesson, as they played the ukulele, chose rhyming words, and practiced with a partner. As these musical experiences unfolded in my classroom, I felt inspired to finish off the last quarter of the school year with more singing, more playfulness, and more musicality.
It is not lost on me how much care and attention went into preparing for the musical feast that was the SongWorks conference. Countless hours were undoubtedly spent making arrangements, organizing logistics, and reaching out to our community to bring people together. What I find so moving is that from that immense care and effort sprouts an incalculable impact on students and families throughout the world. After the conference, each attendee spreads the positive impact within their realm of influence, whether that be their family, classroom, or neighborhood. Imagine how much good is done when one teacher is reinvigorated and reinspired to bring playfulness and musicality into their teaching practice! Deep investments are made to bring events like these about, and there is so much to gain from taking part in them. I left the conference with a slate of new musical “dishes” to try and a renewed spirit from experiencing the joy of music-making in community. I am grateful to have been invited as a 2025 Emerging Pioneer and look forward to continually drawing upon SongWorks principles and practices in my classroom.
