Lee High School – April 15, 2022
Ms Michelle Sisson – Creative Writing Class
Dave Anderson – Musician Educator / Singer-Songwriter

On April 15, the MDMEF took the “Concerts in the Classroom” to Lee High School for a lesson with Mrs. Sisson’s creative writing class. Our featured musician educator was local singer-songwriter, and music icon Dave Anderson. There are always special elements to every classroom lesson we do, but this one stood out. It may have been the fact that it was Dave’s first time as a music educator for MDMEF or that his daughter, Skye, was in the class. Or it just may have been the obvious, about how much Mrs. Sisson encourages her students with her love and passion, or the unbridled freedom that the students showed in their interest and participation. This was a lesson about emotion and how that connection relates to songwriting. Even though this was Dave’s first lesson with us, you couldn’t tell. He was a natural at teaching and guiding the students down a path of music creativity. He talked about his songwriting process, and told stories about their origin. He encouraged the students to use freedom with their words, but also utilize structure to clearly get the point across to others. When tears were shed during this lesson, you knew something bigger was happening. The power of music and how it can influence and broaden academics was clearly evident that day.