Teton Music School/GTMF Education Partnership
To respond to ongoing challenges and needs of our community, Teton Music School and Grand Teton Music Festival are proud to be launching a partnership this month that supports Teton County School District and Systems of Education’s Friday in-person programming at the local elementary schools. Systems of Education is a community collective that brings together organizations in Jackson to take collective action in support of educational needs and opportunities.
These Friday programs serve families of elementary aged students without childcare when regular education is not offered. The program takes place at Munger Mountain, Colter, Jackson and Wilson elementary schools. Teton Music School and Grand Teton Music Festival educators will visit class pods in grades K-5 in 50-60 minute increments to deliver customized musical enrichment experiences. Each class pod has 10 or fewer students (grouped by grade) and is supported by 2-3 other adults in the room. Strict COVID guidelines are followed. Educator’s activities vary, from leading singalongs or teaching rhythms, to instrument demonstrations and live performances.
The educational team from Teton Music School includes their roster of private instructors, supplemented by Mike Richards, Outreach and Operations Associate from the Grand Teton Music Festival and Jeff Kail, principal bassist of the Kansas City Symphony. The Music Festival is subsidizing the Music School’s educators’ fees to support this program and the community. This program will run every other week for the remainder of the fall academic semester.
This pilot partnership between Teton Music School and the Grand Teton Music Festival is part of an overarching priority of both organizations to adaptively meet the needs of Teton County amidst the ongoing pandemic and beyond.