Spirit of the Story: Interview with Audrey Robinson Favorito

Audrey Robinson Favorito is one of the advisers for the Downstream/Upstream project and also volunteered her education and video documentary experience to capture the feel of the Downstream Boat Tour in a video short called, “Downstream/Upstream Day 7: Riverboat Journey.”

Link to Video

JKB: Tell us about yourself.

ARF: I'm a freelance media producer interested in how young children relate to the natural world.  I enjoy helping children create stories, short videos, based on their experiences and their imagination. I've come to the Downstream/Upstream project with the goal of creating a short video documenting the spirit of the boat tour experience. 

JKB: What were your impressions of the boat tour?

ARF: Being on a Jonathon Padelford boat on the Mississippi River with exuberant young children was a festive occasion.  The children brought hand decorated bottles of tap water from their preschool faucets and ceremoniously poured the water over the edge of the boat at the place where the metro's treated water is returned to the Mississippi, completing their part of the urban water cycle. They sang, danced and asked many spirited questions of Padelford Captain Bob and Park Ranger Brian Goodspeed.  But mostly, they gleefully explored the boat and enjoyed the view with their friends.  Adults and children alike had smiles on their faces all morning long. The Mississippi captivated all of us!

JKB: Given your storytelling experience with young children, what are your observations about the Downstream/Upstream project?

ARF: One of the things I like best about this project is that the children and their teachers met and talked with people from their public works community. Equally important, the public works professionals got to meet the children and their teachers, affording them an opportunity to know them better too.  I think it's a rich experience for everyone involved.

In the past number of years, I've been fortunate enough to create video projects with preschool aged children at a St. Paul preschool following the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education.  An important focus of the Reggio Emilia philosophy is children, in collaboration with their parents and teachers, learn about their community through exploration and discovery.  Given that mission, the children and their teachers do things like walk to their neighborhood grocery store and interview the people who work there.  With the Reggio Emilia approach, a trip to the library isn't about simply checking out books, it's also about having a thoughtful exchange with the librarian, building a connected community.

JKB: What have you learned?

ARF: Through Downstream/Upstream, I've learned about the urban water cycle, right along with the children and their teachers! It's been a wonderful journey and I've much respect for the depth and scope of the project.

Audrey conducting an interview for the video

In working with storytelling and video, I've learned to honor the natural curiosity of young children, listen to their questions and support their interests and imagination.  Do your best to document their progress at the time they're creating their art and stories, because with children, the creative moment is often fleeting. The window of time you have to understand their connections and thinking is often short, so you need to be ready when it happens!

JKB: Thanks,  Audrey for your contributions and insights!

Audrey can be reached at

mailto:audrobfav@gmail.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/audreyrobinsonfavorito

Music for the Mind and Body: Interview with Beth Wiskus

Interview with Beth Wiskus, MA, MT-BC, NMT Board Certified Music Therapist, Special Music, Inc. www.specialmusicofmn.com

The Downstream/Upstream project is fortunate to have the assistance of Beth Wiskus, who has helped plan the music portion of the project, and recently led a rehearsal of songs with the kids and recorded a practice CD for them to take home. She teaches a music class at Children's Discovery Academy, but there’s more to her work than traditional music education, and I asked her to tell me about her role as a music therapist through her program, Special Music, Inc.
 

JKB: What drew you to this work as a music therapist?
BW: I’m interested in the therapeutic role of music, -- music as a therapeutic medium.

JKB: How did you decide to become a music therapist?
BW: I was getting an undergrad degree in Music Education, but had also considered psychology. I heard about a music therapy program and thought this would be the right combination of music and psychology. So I finished my music education degree, then got a masters at the University of Minnesota in music therapy. I was in St.Paul schools as a music therapist for a number of years. I also got certification as a Neurologic music therapist from Colorado State.

JKB: Can you tell me more about how music can be therapeutic?
BW: The work is evidence-based. There is research on how rhythm affects the brain. For example, when a person is engaged in music the whole brain is engaged. If there is a deficit like Parkinson’s, or stroke, rhythm can help improve muscle coordination. More neurons are firing simultaneously while engaged in music than in other activities. I work with kids with autism to regulate sensory information. Rhythm, through both music and movement, helps both the motor and sensory systems. My work uses music to work on non-music goals.

JKB: Does music have benefits for the non-impaired?
BW: Yes, research shows that for musicians, without impairments, that it also enhances and strengthens the muscle between the two hemispheres of the brain. In addition to the aesthetic and emotional benefits of music that are commonly known, there are other benefits too, like improved learning in math, for example.

JKB: What excites you about the field?
BW: There is exciting progression in the field. As more research is done on music and the brain, perhaps it will become recognized by health insurance companies as an important treatment that should be covered for certain conditions. More research on music and learning outcomes could also help make the case for the importance of music in regular education.

JKB: What do you find kids are most interested in when you work with them?
BW: That’s hard to say because each child is different. Kids are often most interested in what instrument they get to play, but some are most interested in singing or in movements with music.

JKB: Thanks Beth. We’ll see you next week at the concert!

Day 1 - 10:30 am Sounds Like Water: Learning the water journey song

Later in the morning, the children gathered to learn a song called Downstream/Upstream which I wrote for the learning module. Special guest Beth Wiskus, music teacher to some of the children, played guitar and led the singing while I led the motions. Beth had chosen instruments for each child to play during a part of the song. There was a thunder tube and rain sticks for the thunderstorm verse, and tone blocks for the verse about the toads. The instruments were arranged in a large circle to follow the story of the song. Five children sat in the middle to play the big drum on each chorus. Here's a sound file of Beth's practice CD for the children to take home. A video of the children singing is to come. Here's the lyrics.

We also started to learn another song called, I turn on the tap/I walk to the stream with words and music by Richard Stilgoe from Water Aid's Children Sing for Water program. The program aims to "transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world's poorest communities." The song is part of a children's fund-raising concert kit and talks about how other children in some parts of the world get their drinking water from dirty streams. This theme not only points out the challenges and differences in water supply systems around the world, but also can help children appreciate the clean water we have here.