NASHVILLE, TN - The best video projects from students from Metro Nashville Public Schools will be celebrated at the Academies of Nashville Video Awards show April 21.

Students from Metro Schools and Middle Tennessee State University will direct, produce and perform in the inaugural awards show, a districtwide video competition created to tell the stories of the Academies of Nashville offerings in Metro’s 12 zoned high schools.

“This awards show gives our students a hands-on learning experience, a platform to share how their Academy of Nashville experiences are preparing them for college and careers—and a chance to knock the socks off the audience,” said Dr. Jesse Register, director of Metro Schools. “Our students are talented!”

Student teams will receive Academy “statuettes” for their winning video entries in 14 categories, including Best in Show. Metro high-school students completely produced each video production, and MTSU College of Mass Communication students mentored several teams.

The unique partnership between Metro Schools and MTSU began in fall 2011 when the University agreed to be the title sponsor for the show.

“We are pleased to partner with Metro Schools because we see the great things happening in their schools and the caliber of students they are sending to college,” said Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, MTSU president.

Alex Gibson, a junior EMC major at MTSU, will produce the show with the help of 30 of his fellow MTSU students as well as about 10 Metro high-school students.

“What makes this project so perfect is that it unites their talented students with our exceptional students from the Department of Electronic Media Communication.”

The entire student-run production will use MTSU’s $1.4 million Mobile Production Lab, which has been used for events ranging from Music Row’s “Capitol Street Party” to ESPN coverage of Blue Raider athletic contests.

The hourlong MNPS video awards production will be aired on tape delay on Nashville’s NECAT, Channel 10.

“This has been a lot of work, but it is an invaluable learning experience that closely resembles the work I hope to do when I graduate,” said Gibson, who hopes to someday produce the Super Bowl halftime show. “We have assembled a great group of talented individuals, and I believe it will be a fun entertaining event.”

Gerald Harris, a junior at Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet High School, will be one of the eight student hosts for the event. He’ll be joined by three Metro students—Chelsea Byrd, Kathy Fellman and Kristen Bowman—and four from MTSU in his duties.

“I am extremely excited to work with the students at MTSU on a project of this scale,” Harris said. “It will be a great experience and hopefully will get me one step closer to my dream job, behind the anchor desk at WSMV-TV.”

Harris added that taking classes in TV production at Pearl-Cohn prepared him for this moment.

Though the awards show will be totally produced by students, there are two adult mentors who have played a major role in the production.

Chelsea Parker, program manager for small learning communities for Metro Schools, and Bob Gordon, an EMC assistant professor at MTSU, both have made sure the partnership got off the ground. Billy Pittard, EMC department chair, also was instrumental in providing the resources for the production of the event.

Gordon also is serving as executive producer for the show. In addition to Gibson, the MTSU student crew includes:

• Matt Binford, director;
• Haley Burnett, assistant director;
• Megan Brantley, graphics producer;
• Clay Tipton, graphics editor;
• James Stevens, graphics designer;
• Mika Gray and Katie Myers, scriptwriters;
• Josh Lockhart, technical director;
• Michelle Potts, stage manager;
• Jackson Miller, assistant stage manager;
• Josh Moore and T.J. Black, tape operators;
• Kourtney Hannah, graphics operator;
• Andrew Huether, audio engineer;
• Marc Parrish, chief engineer;
• Mike Forbes, video engineer;
• camera operators Witt Hullander, Colton Carroll, Zach Eagles and Patrick Wilson;
• Jonathan Prichard and Topher Davison, grips;
• Thomas Robinson, production assistant;
• Mary Craighead and Beth Gibson, hair and make-up;
• Steven Hays, booth PA;
• Cortney Frierson, live announcer;
• Mel Milligan and Amanda Gary, trophy presenters; and
• MTSU hosts Megan Brantley, Tyann Nelson, Jordan Hall and Devin Fletcher.

– Doug Williams ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Mayor Karl Dean at the historic Ryman Auditorium Friay unveiled a revolutionary new approach to music education, pledging to make the music education program at Metro Nashville schools the worldwide leader.

Through a new initiative called Music Makes Us: The Nashville Music Education Project, the Metro Nashville Public Schools’ music program will be overhauled and will include a new contemporary curriculum that utilizes new technologies in a way that reflects today’s diverse musical landscape.

New classes in songwriting and composition, rock band and hip-hop performance and technology-based production such as recording and DJ/Remixing are expected to become part of the core curriculum at middle schools and high schools starting as early as next school year. At the same time, traditional music curriculum in band, orchestra and choir will be enhanced.

“Through Music Makes Us, Music City will become the standard bearer of what music education can be and should be in public education,” Dean said. “Our innovative curriculum will draw in students that may have felt left out in the past. Beginning at a young age, Metro students will be exposed to a wide array of musical styles and influences.”

For the first time, Metro Nashville Public Schools will have an Office of Music Education with a full-time director and staff. The current school year will be an organizational period, funded by private donations, to hire the director and a program coordinator, as well as conduct an audit of the school district’s music facilities, equipment and instruments.

“Whereas traditional PreK-12 music education programs rely heavily on orchestras, marching bands, and choirs, students in Nashville will start enjoying new outlets for their creativity as soon as the 2012 school year,” said Dr. Jesse Register, director of Metro Nashville Public Schools. “Music Makes Us will promote strong music literacy, appreciation and creativity and will enhance academic learning in other subjects.”

The initiative will include professional development and externship opportunities in the music industry for teachers. Music Makes Us also relies heavily on a partner network of individuals, government agencies, nonprofits, businesses and concert venue operators. As part of the program, students will be given more opportunities to perform at the many live music venues in Nashville.

“Nashville has the largest concentration of the music industry of any city in the United States,” Dean said. “This is a tremendous, untapped resource for our public schools. And the Music Makes Us program will, for the first time, take full advantage of the many talented individuals on both the creative and business sides of the industry. Not only will this support learning in our schools, but it will benefit the music business in Nashville in the long term by developing a homegrown pool of future professionals and artists.”      

Music Makes Us was developed over the last two years through the music education committee of the Music City Music Council, formerly the Nashville Music Council, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office and Metro Schools. Nancy Shapiro, who chaired the music education committee of the Music City Music Council, helped lead development of Music Makes Us.

“Music Makes Us has such a broad base of support all across our community: the music industry, our Mayor, businesses, arts organizations, the school board and more,” said Shapiro, Vice President, Member Services, The Recording Academy. “The music industry has been advocating this for decades, and now everyone is aligned and invested in this important initiative. Music City should be setting the example of having a world-class music education program, and I’m proud that this groundbreaking new approach uniquely positions us to do just that.”

A Music Makes Us Advisory Board, which includes representatives from the music industry, the school district and community leaders, will serve as a resource in developing curriculum and other aspects of the Music Makes Us program. The board also will assist in securing public and private funding to sustain the program long-term.

Major benefactors thus far include Martha Ingram, Mike Curb, founder of Curb Records, and the Gibson Foundation, the charitable division of Gibson Guitar Corp. 

Multiple studies indicate that students with a strong music education background score higher on their SATs, have improved memory and outperform their non-musical peers. Music instruction also increases students’ mental flexibility and reasoning skills, improving their ability to solve math and science problems.