A presentation punctuated by impromptu rap battles introduced Wendell Middle School eighth-graders on Wednesday to a new Wake County program — backed by R&B star Usher — that looks at careers in the music industry.
The students got a taste of the Music Industry Leadership 101 curriculum developed by Usher’s youth organization, New Look Foundation, that will be the foundation for a new career pathway for high schoolers in the Wake County school system.
Wake is introducing the program this week to Wendell Middle and the Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy. The program will also be piloted at eight other Wake schools: Holly Ridge Middle School; Cary, Enloe, East Wake, Heritage, Millbrook, Phillips and Southeast Raleigh high schools.
If all goes as planned, said Marlo Gaddis, the school system’s director of instructional technology and library media services, Wake County will offer the full program by the 2015-16 school year. Wake is one of six districts nationally, and the only one in North Carolina, that’s piloting Usher’s program.
“We have a unique opportunity in Wake right now that we can take and be a part of this initial team,” Gaddis said about finessing the curriculum that will follow Music Leadership 101. “You don’t always have the opportunity to be a creator on the front end.”
Shawn Wilson, president of New Look, said the curriculum was developed with students’ interests in mind.
“We’ve taken a traditional marketing course and wrapped it around music because that’s where (students’) interests are,” Wilson said. “Talking about brands of artists like Usher, Jay-Z and Beyoncé is more fascinating to kids and, to be honest, more relevant to them than talking about other brands that really have no relevance in their lives.”
In a morning session with New Look trainers, Wendell Middle 8th-graders did basic brand analysis by talking about celebrities like Oprah and former “American Idol” judge, Simon Cowell.
The session also got students thinking about their own personal brand – a lesson Gaddis said she’s excited to see worked into the full curriculum.
“One of the things that excited me as much as everything else is the constant reminder of your digital footprint,” she said. “They’re really talking about your brand and how that fits in.”
Wilson said the program will also emphasize “soft skills,” like speaking in front of crowds, another lesson New Look trainers imparted on students in the form of “Expressions.”
During “Expressions,” students could perform a talent in front of their classmates, a practice that Wilson said is done repeatedly in the Music Leadership program.
By the time students become alumni of the program, Wilson said, they should feel comfortable giving professional presentations or be a leader in other group settings.
