Feature

Do you S.T.E.M.?  Maybe you S.T.E.A.M.? Perhaps you are not really sure what either of these acronyms even stand for?  Learning about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) has moved to the forefront in the field of education and is now a common selling point for everything from computer products, to toys, to camp themes. If you also have endeavors that feature artistic and creative skills, an ‘A’ for Art may be added and that’s how we get, STEAM.

Now that you know what it is, here is an explanation on how it is presented. Education today is no longer about memorizing facts and acquiring knowledge, which are readily available at the click of a button. Integration is key for both STEM and STEAM. Subjects and skills are taught in a style that resemble real life, reflecting the way we work and live. Critical thinking, evaluating information and applying it to solve problems are skills our children need to have.

Why STEM Education is important may be clear, but this quote from the National Science Foundation succinctly sums it up; 

“In the 21st century, scientific and technological innovations have become increasingly important as we face the benefits and challenges of both globalization and a knowledge-based economy. To succeed in this new information-based and highly technological society, students need to develop their capabilities in STEM to levels much beyond what was considered acceptable in the past.”

Educators at schools and families at home are who can provide lessons and experiences in the STEM/STEAM realms. Teachers combine skills as part of an integrated whole rather than individual subjects, and lessons are project or inquiry based. STEM activities embrace the 4 Cs identified as key in 21st Century education: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, and Communication.

At Happy Valley Elementary in Lafayette, Third Grade Teachers have embraced adding STEM Challenges into their lesson planning. Cindy Fisher, a veteran teacher of 33 years and the Lafayette School District’s Teacher of the Year says, “As a third grade team, we have been doing monthly STEM challenges for the past three or four years.  We love the STEM challenges because our students work together in teams to solve problems. They share their ideas as they experiment and create solutions to the monthly challenge. First, they plan their project independently. Next, as a team they use the supplies to design the project and then, reflect on it discussing changes they would make.” 

Mrs.Fisher received a Donor’s Choose STEM grant this year and has used some of her Teacher of the Year money to purchase STEM supplies.   

“My students enjoy time creating, building, and experimenting using the various supplies that I received through the Donor’s Choose STEM grant money.”  Thanks to these creative teachers, Happy Valley Third Graders do S.T.E.M.!

At home, families can foster a love of STEM/STEAM by encouraging children to ask questions and explore the world around them. Children are naturally curious and trips to places like the Exploratorium, Lindsay Wildlife Experience and I Heart Art are just a few family destinations that can spark science and creativity interests.  

Many engaging children’s books can model curiosity, too. If You Ask a Scientist a Question is about by a child whose simple question, “Why is the sky BLUE?”  illustrates the expansive nature of science. Through the story, one scientist after another takes part in providing the background for the explanation, bringing the reader to the center of our solar system and then back to the final page and an answer, which leads to yet another question!

March is especially conducive to STEM activities due to the 14th day of the month resembling the first three digits of Pi, the number you get when dividing a circle’s circumference by its diameter: 3.1415926535… (generally rounded to 3.14 or 3/14)*.

Representatives in a 2009 ceremony voted to encourage schools and educators to observe March 14^th as Pi Day, with activities that teach students about Pi and engage them in the study of mathematics. March 14th also happens to be the birthdate of one of the world’s greatest scientist, Albert Einstein. So, both Math and Science can be celebrated on this day!

One of the quotes Albert Einstein is famous for is….

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing…”

So now, go forth and explore STEM/STEAM… and have a slice of pie!!

*Here is an interesting fact, Pi has no final digit and has been calculated to over two quadrillion decimal places and still there is no pattern to the digits!

I believe there’s an old saying that goes, “Spring comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” Translation: March is usually pretty darn windy in these here parts and I don’t much like the wind, it’s too blustery. Wind makes me cold; it messes up my hair and it causes a massive amount of leaves to be distributed throughout my yard giving the appearance that my landscape is not well maintained. I maintain my landscape. Considering all of the forces of nature, wind has quite a mystique and following. Wind has been the subject, or at the very least a word used in the title of countless movies, songs and books. There must be something to this infatuation with the wind and all its perceived power.

When it comes to movies, Gone with the Wind, staring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, is by far the most recognizable film with the word “wind” in the title. However, this movie isn’t about wind at all. It’s a timeless classic love story centered around the time of the Civil War, but people, women mostly, think it’s still cool (no pun intended) to watch these cheesy old movies on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Other “wind” titled movies include Inherit the Wind, based on a real-life case in 1925, where two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Evolution and, Blowin’ in the Wind, a documentary film examining the secret treaty that is allowing the U.S. military to train and test its weaponry in Australia. Windwalker is a little gem of a film and rates as a ‘must see’ for anybody interested in an authentic portrayal of Native American life in the winter of 1797, and finally, Wind, a story set around the 1987 America’s Cup yachting competition in Perth, Australia, starring Matthew Modine and, if I’m not mistaken, a post-nose job Jennifer Grey.

Songs with the word “wind” in the title include “Ride like the Wind,” by Christopher Cross, with backing vocals by Michael McDonald. Gonna ride like the wind/ until I’m free/ gonna ride like the wind/ blah, blah, blah. What a cool (no pun intended) easy listening tune from the early 80s. Back then, I would jump on my Stingray bike, pop on my Astro Tunes portable cassette player and, well………….ride like the wind around the neighborhood. Other “wind” songs you might recognize include “Blowin’ in the Wind,” by Bob Dylan, How many roads must a man walk down/ before you can call him a man/ the answer my friend is blowin’ in the Wind/the answer is blowin’ the wind; “Candle in the Wind,” by Sir Elton John, Goodbye Norma Jean/ though I never knew you at all/ you had the grace to hold yourself/ while those around you fall/ like a candle in the wind; “Dust in the Wind,” by 80s rockers Kansas, I close my eyes/ only for a moment and the moment’s gone/ pass before my eyes of curiosity/ all we are is Dust in the Wind; My all-time favorite, “wind”-titled song is, “Wind Beneath My Wings,” by Miss Bette Midler, Did you ever know that you’re my hero/and everything I’d like to be/ I can fly higher than an eagle/for you are the wind beneath my wings. Don’t judge me.

Books with the word “wind” in the title include The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, a coming-of-age tale of a young boy who, through the magic of a single book, finds a purpose greater than himself and a hero in a man he’s never met. Grasping the Wind by Andrew Ellis provides students a unique opportunity to study an application of Chinese medical language in a clear and culturally valid context. Wind Flowers by Oscar Wilde, a collection of Wilde’s shorter poems that includes Impression du Matin, Magdalen Walks, Athanasia, Serenade for Music, Endymion, La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente. Then there is The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, the tale of a magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard the world has ever seen and his life as a fugitive after being accused of murdering a king. This last book, The Name of the Wind, sounds like the only “wind” titled book that won’t cure insomnia. It appears to be a Harry Potter on steroids type read.

I suppose if wind was an integral part of your job/vocation or hobby you might feel differently about it than I do. If you are an accomplished yachtsman like Dennis Conner or a professional windsurfer like Phil Horrocks, then wind is essential to your livelihood.

Kite flyers like the wind, but I was never much of a kite runner, despite many a March day in my youth spent trying to get a kite airborne. Back in the day, my friends and I would purchase an intricate kite kit at the local drug store for $0.25. It was a light weight paper kite with a balsa wood cross frame. It also required the addition of a perfectly engineered knotted tail, made from an old dress shirt, to increase the lift versus thrust ratio. Assuming we didn’t manage to destroy the kite fabric during the assembly process, which happened way too often, our adolescent kite gang would all head out to our elementary school with a bag lunch and a ball of string to spend the day running around like lunatics in our attempt to master aeronautic acrobatics with a precision instrument that cost a quarter. When we did occasionally catch the wind just right and get our kite into a suburban jet stream, we would spend hours maneuvering our kites in the perfect wind currents as a metaphor of our youth. More times than not, our kites ended up in a tree, tangled up in the overhead power lines or smashed beyond recognition after an ill-advised nosedive, reminiscent of a Kamikaze pilot. We could’ve used the services of Chris Maxa, General Manager of the Kite Loft in Ocean City, Maryland. Chris is the most recognized professional kite flyer and instructor in the world. Yes, there is a Professional Kite Flyers Association (PKFA).

Whenever someone talks of “going green,” energy is part of the conversation. Wind energy is not just the next big thing, but perhaps the biggest thing ever. Confronting the peril of greenhouse gases and climate change happens to be a multi-trillion-dollar business opportunity. The payoff is a low-carbon economy and tens of thousands of new jobs. That’s called research my friends.

Virtually everyone in the greater Bay Area is familiar with the Altamont Pass Wind Farm. The turbines form lines scattered about the hilltops, around an area of about 15 kilometers in diameter. Dozens are visible from the highway. Although you can sometimes hear the whooshing from the blades from a fair distance, it is hard to get anywhere close to these high-tech windmills since there is no paved road leading to them, and there are specially trained guard cows scattered throughout the hillside and the wind is not surprisingly  strong in that area. Collectively, they have a capacity of hundreds of megawatts (MW), but I truly don’t know if that’s enough juice to illuminate a single nightlight for a week or all the houses in the Tri-Valley for a year. That’s called lack of research. I do however think these high-tech windmills look cool positioned along the hillsides of the Altamont Pass, giving travelers something to gawk at as they head toward the popular destination spot of Manteca.

In retrospect, perhaps, I’ve been too hard on the wind. I do like wind chimes and I suppose knowing the wind-chill factor (the temperature of windless air that would have the same effect on exposed human skin as a given combination of wind speed and air temperature) is helpful at times. Chicago is known as the Windy City and I think Chicago is a very cool (no pun intended) place, even cooler than Manteca. However, when that wind whips off Lake Michigan, it cuts through you like a knife—a freezing-cold knife.

I believe there’s another saying that goes, “Women are known to change their mind like the wind changes direction,” or something like that. Well if that is in fact true, after further analysis, I as a man, will change my mind and proclaim that wind is cool (no pun intended). Given its unbelievable strength and power of destruction (two words, hurricane and tornado) there’s no reason to give Aeolus—the God of Wind—any reason to get all blustery on me.

Gospel, Jazz and Blues evolved from the music of slavery.

One of the saddest, most inhumane and despicable chapters in American history is, without a doubt, the slave trade. Yet ironically those heavily burdened people left us with a genre of music, that is described as unique and unequaled, anywhere else in the world.

Historians trace the beginning of the slave trade to 1619, when a Dutch ship brought twenty African natives to Jamestown, Virginia. In subsequent years more and more Africans were brought to the Colonies.

Nikki Giovanni, in her book, On My Journey Now, describes the arrival of the slaves poignantly:“Stepping off the ships to a language that demeaned them, to a topography totally unfamiliar, to a God they did not know, they nonetheless found a way to laugh, love, and believe in tomorrow.” Giovanni goes on to say, “As sad as slavery was going to be it was an opportunity for the people to imagine new lives.”

After arrival in the Colonies, the slaves were cleaned up and put on the auction block. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, says it all: “Human property is high in the market and is therefore, well-fed, well-cleaned, tended, and looked after, that it may come to sale sleek, strong, and shining.” This description applied to the beginning of the horrendous process, for a “quick sale” at auction, but was not necessarily the case after the sale to the new owner. America wanted cheap labor and slavery was the answer.

After the sale, all the slaves had to look forward to was a lifetime of servitude, and in some cases, hard discipline, and mental and physical suffering. The work was long and hard; from sunup to sundown. 

It is said the music slaves created started with moans on the long arduous sea voyage to the New World. Later it morphed into the spiritual songs. Since the Africans came from different tribes and locations, they had different customs and languages; the moans and ultimately the music they created was galvanizing and common grounds for a meeting of the minds.

Eugenie Rocherolle, in her book, It’s Me O Lord, describes, “The songs were created by captive slaves who, in their helplessness and despair, found solace and hope for their survival in these songs.These spirituals, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, and Nobody Knows the Trouble I See, speak eloquently of the sadness of their lives.” 

At the end of the workday, even though they were dead tired, many did not go to bed. Instead, they brought whatever they had – a pot for a drum, a flute made from wood and a comb for a mouth harp – and with these instruments they made music. The music they made was invigorating and stimulating.Through their music they told their troubles to the Lord.

The slaves created work songs and developed their own rhythms. They didn’t like the work, but they were proud of what they did. Many hated the people in charge – the overseers – they worked because they had no choice.

To ease the workload, the boredom and burden of their labors, spiritual songs provided comfort and solitude. They also expressed a feeling of devotion and they wished for an ultimate freedom from bondage. This helped to release pent-up emotion and sorrow. Spirituals were considered songs of survival. They provided an escape for the spirit, not available to captive souls.

“Spirituals were not only sacred songs for worship, baptism, and funerals, but secular songs as well—like cotton picking, rowing, loading river boats, and singing children to sleep. They could also serve as a coded signal for a secret nocturnal religious meeting or for escape to the north on the underground railroad,” wrote Sandra Jean Graham in her book, Spirituals and the Birth of a Black Entertainment Industry.

This aspect of slave songs was virtually unknown to slave holders and overseers. It was a way of communication with other slaves and with the underground railroad. The words of the songs appeared innocent to the overseers and they did not know that the slaves were possibly planning to escape or start a revolt. The slaves were very clever and astute in their form of communication and transmitting information. The universal meaning of the songs speaks of the challenges that enslaved the Africans daily. The songs were also expressions of religious faith.

Composers of these songs were virtually unknown. It was a meeting of individual talents for the melody and content and a group response for the chorus part. The songs were of oral tradition—basically unwritten and unpublished. Because there was no written record, the songs only existence was in performance.

The Spirituals have several related progenitors including slave shouts, ring dances, African heritage chants, Anglo-American hymnody, and camp meeting songs. The camp meetings attracted hundreds and thousands, of both white and black people.  The hymns resembled the spirituals because they usually had a verse and refrain not unlike the spirituals. Some hymns became known as ‘shouts’ that became a style of hymnody prevalent among Southern rural, black and white people.

Note-wise, most spirituals have fewer scale notes than the typical seven tone major scale. The pitches used are do, re, mi, sol, and la, fa and ti are missing. The missing ti or seventh degree of the scale, prevents the strong pull toward do that is almost always present in melodies in major keys.

Tempo is dictated by the use or purpose of the song, the mood and occasion. If it’s a work song the tempo or speed of the song may be rather quick with a regular beat. If the song has more of a sacred or prayerful feeling the tempo might be slower with a rhythm that is freer and not so regular. Many slave songs were songs of survival from the horrendous plight in which they found themselves.

Another form of spiritual music is the ring shout. Irving Schlein, in his book, Slave Songs of the United States, describes the ring shout. “Jacobs Ladder was a ring shout – a ring shout is a ‘round’ like, Row, Row, Row, Your Boat. You start singing one at a time and end up at the same place. Simplicity of melody and words were of utmost importance in the slave songs.”  

Slaves developed plantation songs that were composed of both African musical elements and European elements. The songs were prominent in the last decades of the 18^th century. The African American spiritual, also called Negro spiritual, was one of the largest and important forms of American folk songs.

Perhaps, for the first time, some of the spirituals appeared in publication. This was a landmark effort in 1867, titled, Slave Songs of the United States, authored by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware and Lucy McKim Garrison. 

Sandra Jean Graham, in her book, Spirituals and the Birth of a Black Entertainment Industry, wrote“Fearing that emancipation would lead to increasing acculturation of blacks and therefore the extinction of their folk songs, the editors sought to preserve the music while it was still possible.” This was one of the reasons for publishing the songs.

The contents of the book contain, spirituals, work songs, field hollers, soldiers’ songs of the Civil War, and Freedom Songs. Of course, this was just a small sample of the hundreds of songs that lived in the oral tradition of performance before they were on paper or published. The book was extremely popular and created much interest. It sold out in its first printing.           

Some of the slaves dared to learn to read and right. This was a very risky and dangerous thing to do. If they were caught, they would be punished severely and most likely sold. The owners and overseers did not want their slaves to get ideas about escaping, freedom, revolting, or other notions that might undermine their status as property of the owners.

As hideous and immoral as the slave trade was in American history, the musical contribution of these people engendered a genre of music that developed into a rich tapestry of unique American music. Gospel, Jazz and Blues evolved from the music of slavery.

Please join us as The Danville Community Band presents “American Icons: Goldman, Rogers & Sousa, Sunday, March 15, 2020, 2:00 P.M. at the Blackhawk Museums, Danville. Concert free with Museum entrance and free parking. Please submit your questions and comments to: banddirector01@comcast.net. Visit our website at www.danvilleband,org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band