Community Collaboration: Jim Gill Concert and Workshop
Renowned award-winning children's musician Jim Gill performed a family concert at the local school gym. His concert was an opportunity for families to sing and dance and play together, and he taught them the songs and the motions so that they can continue to use them at home. The next day he led a workshop at the library for early childhood professionals and community members. This workshop taught the participants new songs, rhymes, and strategies to use to better engage families in play together towards the benefit of their children's development and education.
47 participated
Expected outcome of concert was for families to enjoy a learning-rich event and learn some new songs to sing and move to at home. Expected outcomes of the workshop were for educators to gain knowledge of new ways to use music and play in story times and other educational settings. They would also learn how to share this knowledge with parents and caregivers.
Surveys will be completed.
After both events, participants reported to me that they gained significantly more than they expected to and had a lot of fun. After the concert, some parents stayed to talk to Jim about some of the songs and rhymes, why their kids loved them, and how they could get access to them to keep using at home. After the workshop, participants spoke to me or emailed be to say they found it to be a very positive experience and felt like they gained a lot in skills and knowledge. Some of them posted online about it afterwards, encouraging others to use Jim Gill and his music as a resource.
26 kids and 21 adults attended the concert. 14 surveys were completed. Most of the people who completed the survey said they only occasionally use the library but after this experience they are more likely to attend library events.
14 people attended the workshop. 10 surveys were collected. Although some of them rarely used the library previously, all of them said that after this workshop they are very likely to see the library as a place to experience cultural or arts programming and education.
Zumbrota Public Library, Zumbrota-Mazeppa Community Education