OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Four hundred Oshkosh area 4th graders gathered Tuesday to make music with instruments they created themselves.
The “Full STEAM Ahead” project focuses on arts integration in school as part of the curriculum.
STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, and gives students a more holistic approach to learning.
10-year-old DJ played her homemade cello at the concert on Tuesday.
DJ constructed the cello in science class.
“It was about sound and vibration. So we had to find out a way to show that it would vibrate. So like strings would vibrate or if it were a drum the top would vibrate,” DJ said.
Students played their makeshift instruments along with the Oshkosh Youth Symphony.
Yukiko Grine is the symphony’s music director.
“So the students engineer, design engineer instruments, they build from recycled materials. They learn about the science of sound, there’s a literacy component in the lesson, and of course the arts and music, we provide that part,” Grine said. “The idea of teaching the whole child with this project-based approach to learning… students more and more are needing to become creative problem-solvers in life and in school. And the arts and music really provides that foundation of creative problem-solving. As does engineering and the way that they’re teaching math now.”
“It gives students another access point to their knowledge, so trying to help teachers understand that integration helps synthesize that information for students so it gives them another point of reference to stitch it all together,” Oshkosh Area School District ArtsCore coordinator Renee Schumacher said.
“We want our students leaving our schools, public school system, creative problem-solvers. Be able to contribute to their communities wherever they put down roots and these kinds of experiences kind of help them gain those important skills,” Grime said.
Students from Oshkosh Area School District, as well as Neenah and Omro schools participated in the concert.
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