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Grafton Middle students showcase music-technology course as enrollment doubles in year two
Summary
Grafton Middle School students and teacher presented the district’s music technology course to the school board, demonstrating projects made with Soundtrap and describing a one-semester curriculum that doubled enrollment in its second year.
Grafton Middle School students and their teacher showcased a one-semester music technology course Feb. 24, demonstrating projects created using Soundtrap and describing how class work combines music composition, production and industry-related skills.
The course, now in its second year, covers songwriting, arranging, tracking and mixing, and presents students with collaborative projects and industry-standard software. Students said the class doubled enrollment in its second year and is preparing the division for a potential second-level course and collaborations with Grafton High School and other programs.
"The music technology course is a 1 semester class that covers several aspects within the arts AV technology and communications career cluster and is meticulously designed to align with the key competencies required for future ready graduates," music technology teacher Eric Musselwhite said. He described growing enrollment and student engagement in the course’s second year.
Students demonstrated course tools and projects. Ariel Brown explained the digital workstation used in class: "Soundtrap is just like a recording studio where we can record, mix, and create sounds, music loops, and even entire songs." James Hooper and Noah Jung described producing original songs and sound collages; Scarlett Winkels told the board she had learned technical vocabulary and production techniques and encouraged peers to take the course.
The presentation included examples of student projects, mention of an electronic press kit (EPK) assignment and plans for expanded offerings, including a future Music Technology 2 course and collaboration with the high school choir and a district podcast project.
Ending: Teachers and students said they will continue to refine the curriculum and pursue cross-school collaborations; the board received the presentation during the evening’s "Accent on Academics" segment and invited questions from members of the public and board.
