Emily Mullins成人头条's Kodaly music teacher certification program has been recognized by the Organization of American Kodaly Educators as one of the largest in the nation.
The program began at WSU in 2004 through the initiative of two former students, Kirk Olson and Lisa Simmelink. The two were seeking to spread awareness of the Kodaly method of music instruction, named for Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly.
The method uses games, movement, songs and listening exercises to train students in basic musical skills and teach the reading and writing of music.
In its first year, the program consisted of a one-hour summer workshop and progressed over the next three years to be a two-week workshop including all three of the Kodaly levels of instruction.
In 2008, the WSU program received a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 Professional Development in Arts Education. The grant program is meant to assist school districts in strengthening their teaching force for the benefit of children with significant needs.
To receive this grant, the university partnered with USD 259 to submit the application titled 鈥淎ccentuating Music, Language and Cultural Literacy through Kodaly-Inspired Instruction,鈥� which earned them funding through 2012.
The grant allowed the program to establish a solid foundation of continually offering the three levels of instruction.
Elaine Bernstorf, professor of Music Education and administrator for Kodaly programming, says much of the success of the program can be attributed to the culture of support and the inclusive model the program developed.
鈥淭he students have set up Facebook groups by level so they try to remind each other of what they learned during the summer,鈥� said Bernstorf. 鈥淚 think that has been key to retention. They are like family.鈥�
WSU鈥檚 Kodaly program functions with the least amount of funding possible, as the program has to pay for itself each year. A lot of support has come from USD 259, which has helped teachers with tuition for the workshop portion since the PDAE grant ended.
Because of significant budget cuts in the school district, Bernstorf was expecting enrollment for the summer to be down, but was excited to see enrollment was up to 61 people.
WSU鈥檚 Kodaly program ends with a concert performance from program participants. The youth choir will perform at 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 10, in Wiedemann Hall, and the adult choir will perform at 3:30 p.m. Friday, June 17, in Weidemann Hall.