Ridgewood students learn from OG Players

Ridgewood students celebrated March as Music in Our Schools Month with a special visit from the OG Players of Columbus.

“It is so important for students to be exposed to all kinds of music, especially at a young age and especially to live music,” said Shannon Folkert, music teacher. “Some students had never seen a violin other than a recording. Having the OG Players come to our community gave our students an opportunity to see and experience live music and to work with professional musicians.”

The OG Players worked with all students in kindergarten through seventh grade. They performed for them and taught them about music.

“Mr. Eric helped students conceptualize and begin to write and perform their own RAP (rhythm and poetry) music,” Folkert said. “Miss Elaine helped the students identity both visually and aurally the different sounds of instruments, and together along with the students, they performed and practiced different rhythmic patterns to match the music.”

Elaine Mylius is a professor of jazz trombone at Ohio State University, and Eric Rollin works for his own nonprofit called Use Your Ears.

“I’m passionate about music and think teaching youth about it is really important,” Rollin said.

Mylius started playing the violin when she was 3 and the trombone when she was 10.

“I’ve been playing music my whole life,” she said. “I love music and teaching people to play by ear.”

Folkert said music is an integral part of brain development and a vital part of the educational system.

“Research has proven over and over again the more music education a child receives, the better a child will perform cognitive tasks and perform better academically, especially in the areas of math and reading,” she said. “Music has even proven to promote social-emotional skills and help students self-regulate. Often, we hear about the STEM system of promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This is an outdated system, and research around the world now supports a system of STEAM to include the arts as we continue to recognize the importance of creative thinking.”

The visit from the OG Players was made possible through a collaborative process with The Pomerene Center for the Arts and a grant through The Ohio Arts Council. Jones Metal also donated funds to purchase Djembe Drums for students to practice what they learned from the OG Players.

For more information on the OG Players, visit their YouTube page at www.youtube.com/channel/UCOqZ4r7hjxzBo-Z45QqKILw.