Sistema Kingston is an intensive after-school music program for children in Kingston that focuses on positive social growth through music. The program, along with all daily activity at Molly Brant Elementary School in north Kingston, had to be quickly switched to an online program earlier this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The teaching team rallied to the challenge of learning new technologies to connect with their students and began thinking of new ideas to carry over to the new school year in September.
The Sistema Kingston team worked hard all summer to ensure they could continue music instruction in the fall, coming up with creative ideas to meet all possible scenarios. To ensure student safety, it was decided that all fall programming would be moved outdoors to a nearby park (weather permitting, of course). Safety measures were put in place including masks, frequent hand sanitization, and using hula hoops to ensure physical distancing!
Twenty-three students from Molly Brant have signed up and luckily, the fall weather has been beautiful. Students and Sistema Kingston staff have been playing, singing, and learning together after school most days this fall. Some aspects of the usual programming, such as nutrition, have unfortunately been unable to continue, but the team is determined to keep kids engaged and provide consistency during what is a tumultuous time for so many young learners.
Sistema Kingston uses music instruction to support students’ social development, including building a sense of belonging, confidence, positive relationships, self-regulation, and peaceful conflict resolution skills. Jennifer Kehoe, mother to Maddexx, a grade 4 viola player, comments that Sistema Kingston “builds confidence in the students to become leaders in their spaces, develop friendships, and helps them discover who they are.”
Thanks to the ingenuity of the Sistema Kingston leadership, instructors, and volunteers, the children from Molly Brant have been able to continue to learn and play together. As winter approaches, the Sistema Kingston team is once again busy developing new plans – this time for project-based online programming and activities as the program faces its next challenge: an inevitable move to indoor-based programming.
Karma Tomm, director of Sistema Kingston, reflects: “Everyone involved in Sistema Kingston has shown incredible resilience during these uncertain times. I’m so proud of the creativity, flexibility and hard work that everyone has contributed so that we can continue to offer the program in new and exciting ways. Our students have easily adapted to changes and bring enthusiasm every day…string instruments can travel any where and we’re excited to see where we take them in the next 6 months.”
The Faculty of Education is proud to support Sistema Kingston. More information, including how you can support the program, is available here.