ME and Chapman Partnership X PEACE
October 6, 2017
Lyndon Gray has talks with his students about everything from our political climate to family relationships. Each class the students pick a new topic to write or express themselves about. Normally, the sessions begin with rhyming exercises and vocabulary development. However, the past couple months Lyndon has had the opportunity to work with some extremely talented youth all between the ages 10-13 from the Family Resource Center at Chapman Partnership.
“This class blew me away. The PEACE song was all written by them, and they wrote and recorded the skeleton of the record in one class,” says Gray.
Lyndon asked the students to come up with an acronym for the word PEACE. P is for Positivity, E is for excellence, A is for art, C is for confidence, and the last E is for energy. From there, the students created a musical masterpiece with lyrics that could inspire all ages.
During the next few weeks, the students practiced their music, refined their delivery, and memorized their words. Excited at the progress the students made, Lyndon rewarded the students with a visit to professional recording studio, Midtown Studios Miami.
With the assistance of South African super producer, Dskcova, the students recorded their song like pros. Not all of the students contributed to the song musically. Student, Russell, was Lyndon’s co-producer. He was the youngest in the group, but as “co-producer” was Lyndon’s helping hand whenever he needed him.
“Prior to the studio session Russell asked me to bring him a shirt, and a tie because he’d never worn one before. He said that’s all he needed to make him feel like a boss, like me. It felt great to know he was inspired by my professionalism,” says Gray.
Creating the PEACE song was a memorable experience for these youth, where they created memories and a bond that will hopefully last a lifetime. The song is one of a 3-part series about Peace, Love, and Unity. Stay tuned for the next Chapman Partnership hit! Brought to you by Teaching Artist, Lyndon Gray and The Motivational Edge.