BOT Project News
Effective music
education programs are an important part of early childhood education. Further,
programs that present music in socially relevant contexts can foster richer
learning experiences. CreativeBridge Coalition's Bluegrass and Old Time Music
Education Project will evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative music
education program designed for preschoolers in Tennessee to enhance their
musical knowledge while simultaneously introducing them to the history and culture
of their region by incorporating bluegrass and Old Time music into their
lessons.
April 2011
We remain in "simmer" mode with this project as Jane, Lonny and the others involoved work to rebuild their momentum.
October 2010
Our coalition partners in this project spent the summer immersed in pilot data. Since all are full-time educators, they are, at the moment, quite busy managing courses, advising and performing various other university-related responsibilities. Nonetheless, while the pace of this project has momentarily slowed, we plan to see real progress toward a completed narrative and the subsequent funding search by early 2011.
July 2010
The list of BOT project personnel has grown to include a
collection of local and international educators, researchers and Bluegrass
musicians. Our recent Tennessee meeting with this crew has increased our
enthusiasm for this project, which is currently in a revision stage. We expect
to have a new, multi-year project narrative and corresponding budget completed
by summer's end and sent our for funding before the cold weather settles in.
In some cases, blind faith (along with mutual respect and ongoing support) trumps funding. Jane & Lonny are completing their BOT pilot study (without funding!) this month as we (CBC) continue our efforts to help create a more detailed and long-term project proposal for this endeavor. Currently, our plans are to complete a three-year project proposal that will begin in Fall, 2011, and take their efforts to multiple sites throughout the eastern Tennessee Bluegrass region.
Although our last minute efforts to secure funding for this unique pilot project proved unsuccessful, Jane & Lonny continue with their coalition research efforts this semester. After much consultation (which included our grant professional, Becky Antworth), we have decided collectively to begin working soon on a proposal to fund a multi-year research program that would start (with full funding) in the summer of 2011. In the interim, the research team will have some needed time to step away from this full academic year of study in order to organize and analyze their extensive data. That work, along with their intentions to present and publish findings from this pilot study, will permit them to refine their work and strengthen our coalition funding efforts for the future. We hope to have more photos from this groundbreaking project soon.
Jane Broderick writes:
I've attached some pics. They show the stage and children, with wooden instruments my husband put together with large xerox images of instruments glued on, and we have two real (small size) fiddles and one real and small guitar.
Jane Broderick
December 2009
The Bluegrass & Old Time Music Coalition project has had a successful pilot period during fall semester, with Jane & Lonny collecting lots of data. We're still awaiting word about funding, but the pilot continues during spring semester 2010. Here are some pictures from this fall's pilot group of pre-schoolers.
A hands-on experience Learning which strings are lower and higher
Local made "Canjos" for the Ladybugs classrooms Lara Poteat and David Rich perform up-close
October 28, 2009
The Broderick BOT (Bluegrass and Old Time Music) project has reached the funding stage.Our grants researcher and writer Becky Antworth has found a number of appropriate funding sources and initial inquiries have been submitted.
L to R: Lonny Finley, Lara Poteat, Jane Broderick, Bill Bodine with the "Canjo"