OS third-grader wins national contest

02/09/2010
OS third-grader wins national contest

Overbrook third-grader Kate Sullivan was one of only 10 students across the nation to win the MENC: The National Association for Music Education 2010 “Music! Just Imagine…” Essay Contest.

The essay contest challenged K-6 music students to write about the ways they were inspired by music starting with the phrase “I imagine…” The essays were judged by a panel of MENC members. Of the more than 200 entries, 10 were chosen as the top winners. A selection of the winners’ essays will be featured in the 2010 World’s Largest Concert®, a sing-along event sponsored by MENC. The 2010 World’s Largest Concert will take place on Thursday, March 11 in schools and communities throughout the nation and around the world.

Kate participated in the essay contest during music class with Paulette Hatalosky, Overbrook’s music teacher.

“Kate has always been a very attentive music student,” Mrs. Hatalosky said. “She is very sweet and unassuming. I know she loves to perform by the way her face lit up with excitement way back in kindergarten music class when we began learning dance moves. Kate has a natural gift for writing. I think Kate puts her heart into everything she does. That is what the arts are all about.”

“I chose ‘Music! Just Imagine…’ as MENC’s national theme because imagination is often regarded as the deeply creative faculty which perceives the basic resemblances between ideas,” said MENC president Barbara Geer. “Music also opens countless doors for creativity, and the possibilities for using that creativity are endless. These essays have helped students reach into their poetic capacities to find the words that will help them to discover the range and variety of what they are capable of feeling.”

“It is my hope that as MENC begins a season of change we will continue to be the leading advocate for music as an essential part of a quality, comprehensive education through imagination and creativity,” added Geer. “My thanks to everyone who participated in this contest -- I feel that all of you are winners!”

Kate Sullivan said she loves listening to the music that is all around you every day.

“Music is around us any time, anywhere - good weather or bad weather,” Kate said. When she found out she was one of the national winners for her essay, Kate said couldn’t believe the news.

“I was so excited and happy when I found out I won. Even my (homeroom) teacher Mrs. Hollahan was screaming.”

Kate’s winning essay follows this press release.

The other top 10 winners were from Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. For more information on the World’s Largest Concert and to read the “Music! Just Imagine…” Essay Contest top winners’ essays, visit http://www.menc.org/resources/view/miosm-k-6-essay-writing-contest.

MENC: The National Association for Music Education, among the world\'s largest arts education organizations, marked its centennial in 2007 as the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. Through membership of more than 75,000 active, retired, and pre-service music teachers, and with 60,000 honor students and supporters, MENC serves millions of students nationwide through activities at all teaching levels, from preschool to graduate school. MENC\'s mission is to advance music education by encouraging the study and making of music by all. Since 1907, MENC has worked to ensure that every student has access to a well-balanced, comprehensive, and high-quality program of music instruction taught by qualified teachers. MENC\'s activities and resources have been largely responsible for the establishment of music education as a profession, for the promotion and guidance of music study as an integral part of the school curriculum, and for the development of the National Standards for Arts Education. MENC is located at the National Center for Music Education in Reston, VA.
#




Just Imagine
By Kate Sullivan, Overbrook School

I imagine the forest. The forest all alone. It might sound quiet at first but when the wind blows on it, it sounds like the symphony. If a person walks in on it, it’s like a symphony for free. Then if it starts to rain, a rainbow will form. Each color stands for a different instrument. Red is like the violin, viola and the bass. Orange is the triangle. Yellow is like the flute and jazz music. Green is like the drums and bongos. Blue is like the piano. Purple is people playing those instruments. The rainbow is an orchestra. It may not look like one but if you listen in your heart it is the best symphony you have ever heard.