PROGRAMS

Peer Mentorship Program

The Mentorship Program, begun in 2010, is a realization of a dream long held by Harmony Project: that one day our students would have the skills necessary to teach other students and give back to the community in a meaningful way. Working collaboratively with our faculty of teaching artists we were able to identify our first class of 40 mentors, students who not only show dedication and commitment but also leadership skills and musical excellence. Mentors attended a summer boot camp taught by Program Manager Sarah Wass to prepare them for their new roles. In this class, mentors learned about curriculum development, lesson planning, classroom management and had the change to observe master teachers in action. Mentors also participated in group discussions and personal reflection activities on what it means to be a mentor, teacher and role model.

This past fall, mentors began teaching their mentees weekly semi-private lessons. Mentors continue to meet for weekly peer exchanges and group reflections. The string peer exchanges are facilitated by Harmony Project violin teacher Dr. Anne Rardin. Mentor lessons are routinely observed by Dr. Rardin and Sarah Wass so that mentors can continue to hone their teaching skills. At the end of each semester mentors and mentees perform together in a special recital. As mentors graduate from the program, mentees will be promoted to take their place and receive private lessons from a member of our professional teaching artist faculty