The project...

There's no easy way to do this so if you'll humor me, here is the first press release, written by one of my students, Brendan Fitzpatrick:


A New Era Of Education

What is lacking in our education? Why are America’s schools suddenly falling behind the schools of other countries? For years, the United States had been unsurpassed in its up-to-date education styles, so why is it that now we have begun to lag behind? Claudia Wallis and Sonia Steptoe propose an answer to this in their Time article “How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century.” They introduce the idea that the education system of the United States is outdated and many changes are necessary. Some of the greatest problems with the current system seem to be a lack of team-building and real-world education in the classroom.

In the typical classroom, the teacher stands at the blackboard and scribbles down notes while the kids copy them down. In this way, they learn enormous amounts of information but gain little experience that will aid them in the real world. Eagle Hill School teacher Anthony Westcott has made the decision to try a new style of education in the hope that his students won’t be stuck in the trap that classes must only be taught in the same way as they have been for 100 years, desperately attempting to receive good test scores to the exclusion of all else.

Westcott has decided to employ a progressive style of teaching in the hopes that his students might begin to explore other ways of being educated. The first thing he considered when creating this modernized classroom was that teamwork would play a vital role in the project. The students in this class have formed a real-world production company that will produce, market, and sell CD’s and put on a performance including fellow students who write and perform original music. The students in the class who don’t play music fulfill the many necessary roles in the venture, from website design to marketing to public relations and beyond.

The project will improve skills with real-world applications such as communicating with peers and working towards a common goal with other students. Rather than working solely for a grade, students work on this project for the good of the group, much like in offices that many students will eventually work in. The board meetings that take place each day reinforce this idea of working together, allowing students to communicate their ideas for the project with the students doing most of the talking. Rather than having the teacher explain exactly how the project will proceed, students are given a chance to practice planning ahead, determining the most effective ways to reach the end goals of successfully advertising for the show and having a good performance, as well as having the CD’s distributed to record labels and the general public. Through this long-term interdisciplinary multi-media classroom project, Westcott has provided his students with practice for life in the real world.

-Brendan Fitzpatrick


Make sense so far? Maybe now, it might make sense to direct you to the main webpage:

And then the myspace where you can hear some of the songs.

The last of the press releases, also written by Brendan, looked like this:


Erin Tridle Looks to the Future

When Green Blackboard Productions and Redrosid Records were first created, all the students involved had high hopes. They needed everything to go right in order to put on a good show for singer/songwriter Erin Tridle with finished CDs and covers by May 23. They needed to create pamphlets, record songs, and copy CDs. Yet, despite these high expectations and the deadline, they were not disappointed.
After months of hard work, the CD “Lion Eyes, Animal Instinct” has been released and Tridle’s first performance is complete. The CDs are available for $10 each from either Mr. Westcott or Erin herself and many sales have already been made, with a portion of the proceeds going towards Hurricane Katrina relief, a charity close to Tridle’s heart. Now, there is a new goal for Redrosid Records, which is marketing the CD to the outside world.
The first stage of this project will begin this summer, as the team creates a website (erintridle.com), a Pure Volume account (purevolume.com/erintridle), and a Myspace Music page (myspace.com/erintridle). This will provide publicity for the new artist and an effective way to sell the product to people outside of Eagle Hill School.
The second goal for the summer will be to find media sources to review the new CD. Redrosid Records looks to find credible reviewers to provide feedback on Tridle’s work. This will also give her additional publicity, as well as ideas for how she could improve her craft.
Also, there is exciting news of the possibility of having the Green Blackboard project being covered in the local media. One of the writers for a widespread local publication has shown interest in writing a story. We can only wait to see whether or not a piece on the project will be published.
As for what will happen after the summer, hopes remain high. Redrosid Records hopes to continue to sell the Tridle CD to a larger audience. This may include play on small radio stations, performances for audiences outside EHS, as well as additional marketing. If all goes well, this may be the beginning of a career for Erin in music.
So, although much has been accomplished on the road to success, the journey continues for Erin. There will be many more shows to play, songs to write, and CDs to record. There is still a long way for her to go before she can make a career out of her talent and passion for singing and songwriting.
-Brendan Fitzpatrick


The first of our reviews has come in, which you can check out here:
Review


Now there is a lot more I could say about this experience and how exciting it was but the only thing I'd really like to say besides how proud I was of the seven students who were involved in the class is that the CD really did turn out well and that I urge you to check this out. With Ken and Brian filling in as the rhythm section on these songs that I've written with Erin and Henning recording the whole affair, the results turned out great. Additionally, the photography done by one of the students and all the graphic arts work done for the CD artwork by two other kids, etc. is top-shelf and I'm sure you'll be impressed if you splurge and buy one of the discs. On one hand, I feel weird plugging this here but in reality, I don't see why any of you should miss out. It's a great little CD regardless of what a massive undertaking it was for me personally to be involved in all that went into it (and the concert as well, which is a whole other story).

Thanks for reading,
Tony