“Unified Sings” Initiative Promotes Singing and Wellness
The research about singing is in. It releases endorphins, increases oxygenation in the blood, positively affects the immune system, and improves neural-plasticity of the brain. It lowers stress, improves your posture, and builds self-esteem. And perhaps more importantly, singing is a form of personal expression, an outlet for emotions and identifying who we are in the world. And when singing in a group, it increases our feeling of connection with others, collaboration, communication, and overall well-being.
In an effort to promote wellness, connection, and collaboration, the VAPA Department announces the districtwide initiative "Unified Sings". In this initiative, all students and district staff will have access to and encourage usage of positive music for ensemble singing and confidence-building. Anyone can sing, and science shows that singing makes us feel good both physically and mentally. Let’s do more of it.
The VAPA Department has partnered with North County composer Ruth Weber, who performs with her daughter as the duo Ruth and Emilia. Their song “We’re Gonna Be Legendary” is the headliner song for Unified Sings for the 2019-2020 school year. The song is upbeat and contains a positive message about trying to make the world a better place. (Appropriate for all grade levels.) Music tracks, music notation, and supporting materials for this song (such as lyrics sheets) are available at https://www.sandiegounified.org/unified-sings-0. Ruth and Emilia can also be booked to do live performances at district schools; please see https://www.ruthandemilia.com/ for more information about them.
All district staff, and specifically elementary classroom teachers, are encouraged to use these resources in their classrooms this year. As your site’s music teachers may be using the song as part of their curriculum, consider partnering with them for cross-curricular or interdisciplinary projects. The website also contains links to several other positive songs that are appropriate for children’s voices.
Please contact Choral and General Music Resource Teacher Laura Williams at lwilliams5@sandi.net if you have any questions, or if you and your students would like to participate in our end-of-the-year district music video for “We’re Gonna Be Legendary”. We welcome not only singing groups of all ages, but instrumental music groups and dance groups, too.
“The only thing better than singing… is more singing.” –Ella Fitzgerald
The research about singing is in. It releases endorphins, increases oxygenation in the blood, positively affects the immune system, and improves neural-plasticity of the brain. It lowers stress, improves your posture, and builds self-esteem. And perhaps more importantly, singing is a form of personal expression, an outlet for emotions and identifying who we are in the world. And when singing in a group, it increases our feeling of connection with others, collaboration, communication, and overall well-being.
In an effort to promote wellness, connection, and collaboration, the VAPA Department announces the districtwide initiative "Unified Sings". In this initiative, all students and district staff will have access to and encourage usage of positive music for ensemble singing and confidence-building. Anyone can sing, and science shows that singing makes us feel good both physically and mentally. Let’s do more of it.
The VAPA Department has partnered with North County composer Ruth Weber, who performs with her daughter as the duo Ruth and Emilia. Their song “We’re Gonna Be Legendary” is the headliner song for Unified Sings for the 2019-2020 school year. The song is upbeat and contains a positive message about trying to make the world a better place. (Appropriate for all grade levels.) Music tracks, music notation, and supporting materials for this song (such as lyrics sheets) are available at https://www.sandiegounified.org/unified-sings-0. Ruth and Emilia can also be booked to do live performances at district schools; please see https://www.ruthandemilia.com/ for more information about them.
All district staff, and specifically elementary classroom teachers, are encouraged to use these resources in their classrooms this year. As your site’s music teachers may be using the song as part of their curriculum, consider partnering with them for cross-curricular or interdisciplinary projects. The website also contains links to several other positive songs that are appropriate for children’s voices.
Please contact Choral and General Music Resource Teacher Laura Williams at lwilliams5@sandi.net if you have any questions, or if you and your students would like to participate in our end-of-the-year district music video for “We’re Gonna Be Legendary”. We welcome not only singing groups of all ages, but instrumental music groups and dance groups, too.
“The only thing better than singing… is more singing.” –Ella Fitzgerald
