Music students teach homeless children

Several music students from Oklahoma City University served as teachers, assistant teachers, and teaching associates for Positive Tomorrows, a school for homeless children, over the fall semester. The OCU students volunteered every Friday.

The Wanda Bass School of Music has engaged with Positive Tomorrows for five years, using curriculum specifically written for these at-risk children.

Early in the fall, the music students visited City Rescue Mission, where many Positive Tomorrows students and their families live.

"Visiting the students at the shelter helped the musicians understand the unique circumstances facing the Positive Tomorrows students, which in turn helped them tailor the music lessons to their dispositions," said Judith Willoughby, OCU music professor and director of Choral Activities.

Eleven OCU students in the Elementary Vocal Methods class developed the first draft of the curriculum, for kindergarten through fifth grade, tailored to the needs of children who are learning in the midst of being homeless.