Arts and Humanities students learned this fall how the key of cooperation has kept the melody of American democracy in tune.

Seniors in Falla Halsey’s Government and Politics class discovered more about the country’s roots as a constitutional republic through an interactive lesson. They wrote individual song lyrics on pieces of paper and created a new musical piece by placing them together. Halsey helped them realize how their teamwork-based actions mirrored those of the Founding Fathers more than two centuries ago.

Emaan and Ruben said they liked working with their classmates to accomplish their goal. Everyone stood around a long table as they decided what the best order for the lyrics should be.

“I think the way we pieced it just brought us together,” Emaan said. “I’ve known most of these guys since freshman year, so I think creating something as a class felt really wholesome. I enjoyed doing that.”

“It makes me feel better that I can share my ideas and they are valued with other people as well,” Ruben said. “I really appreciate that about collaborative activities.”

Gracyn said she enjoyed how the assignment blended the disciplines of history, art and music. Students take a combination of arts and humanities classes during their time at the focus program.

“I appreciated that there was both a writing and an art aspect, because I feel like a lot of people, when they think about Arts and Humanities, they only think about the arts part,” Gracyn said. “But I like how classes like this combine that, while including more of the humanities material by focusing on the deeper meaning behind what we’re doing.”

Arts and Humanities Administrator Darla Berks said the lesson lays a strong foundation of learning for the class. One goal is to teach students about the importance of valuing perspectives and other people’s ideas. It also gives them a memorable example of how cooperation can lead to powerful results.

“The comparison is made to the American experiment and the building of democracy, in that the ideas of the people were not the same, but they came together to create something valuable,” Berks said.

The 16 seniors began the activity by choosing phrases from their favorite songs. They wrote them on horizontal pieces of paper with pens and pencils and outlined them with permanent markers. Everyone read their lyrics aloud before bringing the slips of paper to a large table in a random order.

Halsey asked the group to rearrange the sequence of paper slips to make a new song. Some sentences were about large topics like confidence and kindness, while others dealt with more individual concerns. They smiled as they combined all 16 lyrics into one long melody of words.

Students gave understanding nods as Halsey explained how their songwriting efforts paralleled major American achievements such as the Constitution and Bill of Rights. People from various backgrounds in the new nation – urban, rural, North, South, seafaring and farming – worked in the same way to pen and ratify the foundational documents.

“This is about people who came together to build something bigger,” Halsey told them.

After completing the humanities portion of the assignment, students then produced artworks that illustrated the abstract idea of cooperation. They made red and blue swirls that blended into the color purple, water eroding jagged edges of land over time, and red, white and blue pillars holding precious pearls.

Gracyn said the activity was a good way for students to strengthen bonds with each other. She said collaborative assignments are common at Arts and Humanities, which is one reason she has enjoyed being in the focus program.

“I love all the group work we do in that class as well, because it kind of pushes you out of your comfort zone and makes you get to know people better, even if you’re already good friends,” Gracyn said. “You get to learn more things that you wouldn’t know about your friends if you just talked to them casually.”

Gracyn said the lyrical assignment showcased the type of accepting home that Arts and Humanities has become for many students. She said that has been a major key to her successful time there.

“Some people can be really nervous to be open and share these personal things about themselves, so having it be so openly encouraged can feel very welcoming,” Gracyn said. “It just reminds you of how much of a safe space that we’ve been able to build here.”

LPS Focus Programs like Arts and Humanities help our students customize their high school experience. Explore more about our Arts and Humanities Focus Program.

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