The Making a Path Through Music Program

My name is Daniel Russell and I am an enthusiastic high school English teacher with a passion for developing creativity and comprehension in my students. I believe in the power of enhancing Language Arts instruction through the use of music and technology. Such instruction creates a high interest access point to knowledge where lessons resonate due to student engagement and curriculum relevance. I have been in the classroom for over five years as an Elementary and High School teacher and have been working with disadvantaged youth for over a decade in probation, foster care and school settings. I have designed and implemented curriculum for music lyrics instruction that is focused and driven by State of California language arts standards for the past four years. I am currently teaching 10^th grade English and the “Making a Path Through Music” program at John C. Fremont High School in South Central, Los Angeles in conjunction with Brian Webb and the City Stars Program. I have conducted trainings and seminars for teachers and childcare workers on various topics from Music and Poetry to supporting foster care and probation youth in schools.

I have a Master Degree in Special Education from San Jose State University and completed my undergraduate studies at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.   I am a life-long author and poet and enjoy writing fiction, non-fiction, prose, poetry and/or research nearly as much as I enjoy teaching them. Students inspire me on a daily basis and I aim to continue to encourage their inspiration and foster their positive academic development. I am an eternal student with a plan to pursue to a doctorate in education focused around my work in language arts instruction through the music forum. 

Program Outline: 

The program aims to provide students with opportunities to engage in a Music and Poetry Program that provides opportunities for language arts instruction as well as collaborative projects to create and produce original music lyrics and compositions. Students are directly engaged in learning curriculum relevant material through a point of high interest in music. Students are encouraged to achieve at a high level in school and maintain excellent attendance through involvement in a program that aims to engage them and be active in directly improving their language arts skills in reading and writing. The curriculum and its alignment with California Learning Standards are summarized in the program outline and further materials are available upon request. We are a fast growing program whose needs will expand as student enrollment expands. We currently can be found at John C. Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles and are available to any one of Fremont’s 4,500 plus students after school.