Professional Development in Action

Central to the S’Cool Sounds (SCS) mission is maintaining and growing partnerships with New York City Public Schools, including professional development workshops for music teachers.

SCS Teaching Artists lead multicultural instruction, empowering teachers to use our free online Learning Resources site and ultimately inspire creativity, confidence, and joyful music-making in students.

Our ongoing collaboration with the NYC Public Schools Arts Office (the Arts Office) has seen steady workshop growth since the summer of 2025. Excited by their work together, attending teachers have asked their administrators to bring SCS Teaching Artists to their schools for in-person residencies.

Here’s a look at some of the recent workshops we’ve led: 

• Alegría Musical: Latin American Stories

• Teaching Rhythm Through South Asian Pedagogy of Tabla Syllables, Voice, and Body Movement

• Jazz and World of Black American Music: History with Musical Practice

• Recorders without Borders

• Ukulele: Strumming Through the Americas

Coming up in March, SCS Artistic Director and Founder Nina Stern and SCS Teaching Artists Kenneth Jimenez and Marwan Allam will lead the next series of teacher workshops. They will share strategies and tools for teaching the recorder, ukulele, and percussion to elementary music educators.

Your generosity makes it possible for SCS to expand the reach of our teacher workshops. Please consider donating today!