Sistema Kingston Shapes Students, Teachers, and Community

Every week after school, the classrooms at Molly Brant Elementary School and St. Thomas More Catholic School fill with music, movement, and fun for grade 2-6 students participating in the Sistema Kingston program. One thing that makes Sistema Kingston unique is its home at the Queen’s Faculty of Education. This partnership creates opportunities for children to build confidence, develop perseverance, and experience the joy of belonging through ensemble music learning, as well as offering meaningful professional learning for Queen’s education students.

For third-year Concurrent Education (ConEd) student Olivia White, Sistema Kingston has become a formative part of her university experience. What began as a placement during second-year grew into an ongoing commitment to the students and community at Sistema. After completing her required practicum hours last year, she chose to return to Sistema as a volunteer, simply because she loved being there.

“I really enjoyed it last year,” she says. “As much as it was helping out, it’s also a break for me, too. It’s fun to engage in song and dance and have three hours a week where you can just kind of be a kid.”

Now volunteering as a community member, Olivia works with students at Molly Brant, helping with everything from snacks and transitions to classroom activities and concert preparation. Over time, her role has evolved. With relationships already established and routines familiar, she now takes on more responsibility and helps newer students navigate the program with confidence.

That sense of continuity is one of Sistema Kingston’s greatest strengths. Because students and volunteers return week after week throughout the year, growth becomes visible in ways that extend far beyond music.

Olivia recalls watching students work toward earning their first real string instruments after demonstrating commitment and positive behaviour. When they were finally called to the front of the room to receive their instrument, the moment was unforgettable.

“They were beaming,” she says. “It was so much more than music. It was this sense of all-around achievement.”

Another story Olivia shared was about a quiet grade 5 student who surprised everyone by asking to perform a solo at a holiday concert. Nervous but determined, he explained that doing the solo would help him face his fears, and he went on to perform beautifully. For Olivia, moments like this reveal what makes the program so powerful.

Working with the Sistema Kingston program is shaping the teacher Olivia hopes to become. Although she plans to teach History and English at the intermediate-senior level, she says her experience working with elementary school students with Sistema Kingston has already taught her some of the most important fundamentals of education: adaptability, relationships, and treating each learner as unique. “The biggest thing was learning their name,” she says. “When you learn their name, they’re not just a group of kids; you’re seeing them as an individual.”

Sistema Kingston’s teaching artists, the skilled musicians who run the musical education at each site, also learn and grow with the students. For teaching artist Bibi Henson, Sistema has also been a place of professional growth. A Kingston musician with a Bachelor of Music in violin from McGill University, Bibi joined the program in fall 2024 after years of private teaching. Sistema Kingston marked her first experience leading larger groups of young learners.

“It’s been a lot of trial and error,” she says. “You have so many different levels in one group. You have to find a way and plan your lessons ahead of time to suit everybody as much as you can.”

Teaching in this environment has strengthened her patience, flexibility, and reflective practice. Instead of working one-on-one with a single student, she now supports groups of children with different personalities, skill levels, and needs, all learning together. She credits the program’s carefully designed milestones with helping students succeed. Beginners often start with handmade “paper instruments” before receiving real violins or violas, allowing them to practise posture, handling, and technique in a playful, low-pressure way.

“It might seem slow at first,” she says, “but then it really helps everything move a lot quicker afterwards.” Like Olivia, Bibi speaks passionately about student growth. She describes watching older participants mentor younger ones, demonstrating both musical skills and leadership.

She remembers one student who struggled with self-confidence and often stopped mid-piece after making mistakes. Over time, the student learned to keep going, trust the process, and believe in her own progress.

“It is one of the pillars of Sistema,” Bibi says, “that perseverance, stick-with-it attitude.”

Through every after-school lesson, rehearsal, and performance, Sistema Kingston demonstrates the power arts education has to transform lives. Children gain confidence, discipline, friendships, and a sense of belonging. Queen’s students gain practical experience and a deeper understanding of teaching. And teaching artists grow as educators and mentors.