The Background:
Mr. Hawkins and I met at Jackson State University in 2008. Mr. Hawkins was finishing a Master's in Music Ed the semester before I started studying at JSU full time. I was fortunate to meet him several times when I visited the campus before becoming a student. He was a Jacksonian like myself and had learned violin in Jackson Public Schools.
When Barrack Obama won the presidential election, my orchestra conductor announced that we would be going to play in DC and attend the Inauguration. Part of his vision was to enroll some alumni to strengthen our ensemble. Jerome Hawkins was one of those players that was invited to come with us. On this trip, Mr. Hawkins and I played, as members of the JSU Chamber orchestra, at the Congressional Black Caucus prayer breakfast at the Church of Epiphany in Washington DC. We accompanied Mary, Mary as they sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" before Rev Desmond Tutu gave the keynote. We attended the inauguration of President Barrack Obama together. Jerome is a dedicated educator and a talented musician. He was so gracious as to sit down and offer his expertise around teaching strings in Jackson MS.
The Interview:
"So I had the opportunity to start off my teaching with the Symphony and I taught at two schools both were elementary schools" -Jerome Hawkins
Mr. Hawkins Shared about his experiences teaching and learning violin. Mr. Hawkins worked for the symphony as a strings teacher through a partnership with JPS. He also worked as a general music teacher in JPS. He currently works as a general music teacher in Madison County Schools(just outside of Jackson). This along with the fact that Mr. Hawkins is a JPS and JSU graduate give him a very intimate understanding of the relationship between teaching and learning classical music in "The City With Soul".
"You know that's another thing we look forward to as students like myself. You know coming up in the string program in Jackson public schools to come back and to teach and to become teachers in string education and also as producers, making music in the community. So everything is going back to the community." -Jerome Hawkins
We spoke briefly about the strengths of the greater Jackson area. In this section, Mr. Hawkins highlights the significance of students having opportunities to strengthen and reinvest in their own communities.
"You know, actually bringing those kids there." -Jerome Hawkins
Mr. Hawkins also shed some light on challenges he faced in his own string programming. One challenge we spoke about was "mobility". This brought me down from lofty goals and reminded me of the actual physical limitations and demands of this type of program.
"Pretty much just being patient." -Jerome Hawkins
When I asked Mr. Hawkins; "what would be your advice to a teacher going into a string program in Jackson"
The Take aways:
Mr. Hawkins and I met at Jackson State University in 2008. Mr. Hawkins was finishing a Master's in Music Ed the semester before I started studying at JSU full time. I was fortunate to meet him several times when I visited the campus before becoming a student. He was a Jacksonian like myself and had learned violin in Jackson Public Schools.
When Barrack Obama won the presidential election, my orchestra conductor announced that we would be going to play in DC and attend the Inauguration. Part of his vision was to enroll some alumni to strengthen our ensemble. Jerome Hawkins was one of those players that was invited to come with us. On this trip, Mr. Hawkins and I played, as members of the JSU Chamber orchestra, at the Congressional Black Caucus prayer breakfast at the Church of Epiphany in Washington DC. We accompanied Mary, Mary as they sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" before Rev Desmond Tutu gave the keynote. We attended the inauguration of President Barrack Obama together. Jerome is a dedicated educator and a talented musician. He was so gracious as to sit down and offer his expertise around teaching strings in Jackson MS.
The Interview:
"So I had the opportunity to start off my teaching with the Symphony and I taught at two schools both were elementary schools" -Jerome Hawkins
Mr. Hawkins Shared about his experiences teaching and learning violin. Mr. Hawkins worked for the symphony as a strings teacher through a partnership with JPS. He also worked as a general music teacher in JPS. He currently works as a general music teacher in Madison County Schools(just outside of Jackson). This along with the fact that Mr. Hawkins is a JPS and JSU graduate give him a very intimate understanding of the relationship between teaching and learning classical music in "The City With Soul".
"You know that's another thing we look forward to as students like myself. You know coming up in the string program in Jackson public schools to come back and to teach and to become teachers in string education and also as producers, making music in the community. So everything is going back to the community." -Jerome Hawkins
We spoke briefly about the strengths of the greater Jackson area. In this section, Mr. Hawkins highlights the significance of students having opportunities to strengthen and reinvest in their own communities.
"You know, actually bringing those kids there." -Jerome Hawkins
Mr. Hawkins also shed some light on challenges he faced in his own string programming. One challenge we spoke about was "mobility". This brought me down from lofty goals and reminded me of the actual physical limitations and demands of this type of program.
"Pretty much just being patient." -Jerome Hawkins
When I asked Mr. Hawkins; "what would be your advice to a teacher going into a string program in Jackson"
The Take aways:
- Community-during our brief interview Mr. Hawkins mentions community 10 times. Mostly speaking of it as a source of strength and relevance for an education program. Forte Strings can only be successful if we can work with the community of Jackson in ways that empower and uplift it's people
- Opportunities-
- I very much appreciate how Mr Hawkins approaches topics of cultural differences as opportunities to educate. "communicate effectively with parents so that they know that of course this is a different instrument it’s not like a piano" -Jerome Hawkins. Many of our families would benefit from informances where we are able to do some of the work that Mr. Hawkins describes. One difficulty in creating a string program where there is not one is that families will not have interacted with these instruments before.
- Our scholars would benefit from opportunities to share their talents with their communities. Forte Strings seeks to empower students by showcasing their skills and employing new and creative ways of sharing them with our communities.
- Realistic Expectations- We must maintain high expectations for our students that are realistic and show that we understand how to scaffold their learning toward success. Patience and mobility both fall under this umbrella. Forte Strings would love to empower every young musician in Jackson today. We also realize that it takes a lot of time to develop young musicians. It takes even more time to build a strong program with strong students at the center. It will never happen if we can't get our kids in the building. While we work towards a better tomorrow, we have a responsibility to also face the problems of today.
Here is a picture of Jerome Hawkins preparing to lead a chamber group he put together for a fundraiser. He is sitting concert master with Andrew Dillon to his left and Chelsea Dillon behind him.
Transcription of full interview |
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