Drummers play in Congo Square as percussionist Luther Gray schools an observer on the importance of the New Orleans landmark and how African music lives on in modern jazz and hip-hop.
"Congo Square has this power, and it has contributed greatly to the evolution of music in North America," says Gray, the founder of the Congo Square Preservation Society and the percussion group Bamboula 2000.
Now, officials with the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities hope elementary school students will use Gray's lesson, captured on video, to write and produce podcasts about his music as part of new curricula that blend Louisiana arts history with the state's core math and English standards.
Called “Aunt Dorothy’s Teacher Toolkits," the lesson plans will be piloted in a handful of schools as early as next year — the first time the LEH has offered curriculum support for K-12 classrooms since 2014.Â
The lessons are part of a push by public officials and educators to bring more art and music into classrooms as local public schools still feel the effects of years of budget cuts and federal directives that put more emphasis on areas like math and science.
"What’s really key here is recognizing the realities of a sparsity of funding for arts education," said Erin Greenwald, the LEH's vice president of content. "This may be the way to get arts coverage — including it with what we consider to be the more traditional core disciplines."
The collection of plans is named after Dorothy Hanna, a retired schoolteacher who donated $100,000 to fund the program.
The first series in the toolkit, "Louisiana Musical Legends," focuses on nine influential musicians with local roots. It was developed with input from Donna Edwards, the wife of Gov. John Bel Edwards, along with nine regional arts councils. Â
Donna Edwards and the arts councils held a contest for teachers to submit lessons for development. Nine winners, including three teachers from the New Orleans area, received $1,000 each.
In addition to Bamboula 2000, lessons will reference the work of artists like Nellie Lutcher, Tony Joe White, Amanda Shaw, Susan Aysen, Kenny Neal, Little Walter and Nathan Williams Jr.
Each unit includes a brief musician biography, an original video and a plan that incorporates various standards that students must master, such as narrative writing.
In New Orleans, advocates have been trying to find more resources to dedicate to arts education since at least the 1990s, when severe budget cuts forced then-schools Superintendent Morris Holmes to slash art, music and drama teachers — as well as librarians and physical educators — from the system's general fund.
The door for the LEH program opened in 2015 under a series of local and national education reforms that changed how students were taught in classrooms. Those reforms, which included the implementation of Common Core in Louisiana, encouraged arts and music access for students.
In New Orleans, the proliferation of charter organizations also gives schools the autonomy to provide more specialized instruction, which can include a focus on the arts.
Diana Turner, a teacher at Bricolage Academy, envisioned the lesson focused on Luther Gray and Bamboula 2000 while on a jog through Congo Square, where she was inspired by musicians carrying on legacies of African-descended people through drum rhythms and dance.
She realized that she could teach students about local history, under the umbrella of social studies, and use the lesson as a way to hone reading and writing skills.
Under her plan, students will have to write about the legacy of Congo Square and record a short "radio show" that could be used for other classrooms.
"While learning about Congo Square and Luther Gray and Bamboula 2000, students will become investigative reporters in their communities," Turner said.
