We've been busy!
Holly Serio joins the BrightNow! team!
In 2008, Holly Serio earned her bachelor's degree in Music Education from Lebanon Valley College. While teaching at the ELCO School District, she went on to earn her Masters in Music Education (also from LVC) in 2015. After teaching elementary music for 12 years, Holly has transitioned from the public school classroom to pursue other music ventures, to include student assemblies, and performing at various venues to audiences of all types. Holly was the 2021 recipient of the "Best Children's Artist" award from the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame because of her work as a children's music songwriter and performer. Additionally, in the summer of 2022, Holly attended the BrightNow! Summer Professional Development Training: Songs from BrightNow! Social-Emotional Wellness Toolkit: PreK-6 Music, Movement, and Social Emotional Wellness (sponsored by the Capital Area Intermediate Unit), actualizing a seamless transition to the BrightNow! Team. Holly's main goal is to provide educational entertainment through music to kids of all ages.
Mr. Music Comes to the CAIU!
BrightNow! has formed a new partnership with the Capital Area Early Learning Center. The link below shows the work, describes an upcoming teacher training, contains videos of teacher testimonials, songs and more!
Capital Area Intermediate Unit and Hilltop Academy team up with BrightNow!
Beginning in the fall of 2020, Mr. Music® became a regular part of Zoom Sessions and in-person classroom time at Hilltop Academy and the Early Learning Center at CAIU. Through sharing ideas with faculty, a creative approach resulted in turning pieces of the school’s LABS Behavior Matrix into songs that support the kids’ social emotional wellness. Issues of safety, kindness, and self regulation are addressed in this project. A new song was also created for Hilltop Academy that has all of the students and teachers singing along. Mr. Music® uses the school song each time he visits (virtually or in-person) to warm the kids up and get them engaged for their day.
Jennifer Sciacca, Emotional Support Teacher, says: "The kids really enjoyed having [Mr. Music®] and can’t wait for [Mr. Music®] to [Zoom] with them...They LOVED the song, especially the “preview” of
'Be Your Best Self.'"
BrightNow! partners with WITF/PBS for "Ready, Set, Music" TV project.
WITF, along with PBS affiliates across Pennsylvania, engaged the BrightNow! Creative Team to write the songs for this fantastic “learning at home” project:
https://pennsylvaniapbs.org/learning-at-home/ready-set-music/one-thing-at-a-time/
For this project, BrightNow! worked closely with WITF's Creative and Production teams to create songs that were made adaptable for a diverse group of artists from across Pennsylvania to create versions in many different musical genres.
One of our favorites was Milan Credle’s version of "Be Your Best Self":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqJAAeM2HgM
These videos and supporting activities are enthusiastically being seen and put to use throughout PA. A second round of music and activities is being planned!
More Fun with Ready Set Music and PBS
Welcome To Ready Set Music!
Feelings can be hard for children to talk about. Often they demonstrate their feelings before they can use words to share them. As adults, we can often be proactive when we are crabby or tired or frustrated and change our behavior. Most children are still learning to navigate that. Helping children use words to describe what is happening inside them is an important part of Social and Emotional Learning. These words and messages can be taught and reinforced through music.
Steel-High Elementary is awarded the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts “Long Term Residency” grant.
BrightNow! wrote a highly competitive grant for Steel-High Elementary School. We are so pleased to announce that we will partner with a great group of teachers and administrators at the school, starting in January. Using his PeaceBeat project, Mr. Music® will be team-teaching through songs for the rest of the school year.
The adaptive model BrightNow! put forward in the application is one of the main reasons this award was granted. We will be able to adapt to whatever delivery model in which the school finds itself, as educational models are forever changing.
The students and teachers at Steel-High already know and love the PeaceBeat and what it can bring to their school. We all look forward to developing a great program throughout the winter and spring with the students and teachers of Steel-High.
STEM Tool Kit adds Music!
Through a partnership with PA Department of Education and several Intermediate Units, BrightNow! is adding content to the STEM Tool Kit. Songs and lesson plans are continuing to be created for this dynamic partnership.
Here is part of a tool kit for environmental science (K-2). The song is called “Thank All The People”. It describes both the value of balance in natural ecosystems and the human teamwork it takes to work in harmony with an ecosystem to create valuable products for us all to use. Song and Lyrics below...
Music and Equity in Computer Science!
We are teaming up with the great folks at PaTTAN to bring to life songs, lesson plans, and teacher trainings that feature the pillar concepts of computing, networks, and the internet. This project will span material for K-5 cohorts. We will be publishing this material in SY22/23. In the meantime, we offer this song, “Closing The Gap”, as a rallying cry for equity in CS. As the PaTTAN team says…”CS For All!”
Song and Lyrics below...
“Step by Step by Step” is the first song from our partnership with PaTTAN’s Computer Science Team...
Beautiful Us and BrightNow! Kids
Announcing the release of “Beautiful Us”, a new record from Mr. Music®
This new collection of songs features a fantastic roster of musicians and singers…and BrightNow! kids from all over the region.
Other News!
Mr. Music® (Lenny Tepsich) was nominated for the PA Musicians Award for Best Children’s Musician.
Mr. Music® (Lenny Tepsich) was nominated for the PA Musicians Award for Best Children’s Musician.
Mr. Music® (Lenny Tepsich) was nominated for the PA Musicians Award for Best Children’s Musician.
You can cast your vote for Mr. Music® by clicking in this link: https://cpmhof.com/awards?fbclid=IwAR3u1PofQydOW1V33kyKO_Xm6wehpwhVrQpLvdShPfIaXGaQl0RLKPuSpFM
BrightNow! partners with the University of Pennsylvania‘s Penn Literacy Network!
Mr. Music® (Lenny Tepsich) was nominated for the PA Musicians Award for Best Children’s Musician.
Mr. Music® (Lenny Tepsich) was nominated for the PA Musicians Award for Best Children’s Musician.
Information on Brain Biology and Music Workshop collaboration COMING SOON!