These Sheboygan North students are embarking on yearlong projects that include a musical garden and a hearing loop
SHEBOYGAN - Lasting impacts of North High School's Innovator Fellowship Program can be seen in the "Color Me Sheboygan" coloring book, the whale mural on Above & Beyond Children’s Museum and the Maywood park storybook trail.
North high teacher and program coordinator Jay Johnson and former principal Jason Bull founded the program in 2013, after being inspired by former student Jacob Olmedo, who sought local resources to pursue his passion in fashion design. They went on to Parsons School of Design in New York.
About 30 students have completed the year-long program, which helps them pursue projects and passions beyond the classroom.
Here’s a look at its impact and this cycle's fellows and projects.
What do fellows do?
Fellows apply in May for the following year's cycle and must submit project and budget proposals as part of the application process.
Once selected, they dedicate one to two hours a day to their projects and meet on a frequent basis with Johnson and Ashley Magray, North High counselor and program coordinator. Students can receive graduation credit, too.
The program culminates with presentations, usually in the summer.
How can students benefit from becoming a fellow?
Johnson said the program aims to present skill-building opportunities, cultivate passion and have students go to “places they have never imagined that they could go.”
"It really is transformational for so many of those young people,” he said. "I don't think they go into it necessarily knowing that, but it's life-changing to have those experiences and have to raise money and have to talk to adults and have to have a big vision.”
Who are this year's fellows, and what are their projects?
Projects this year include a musical garden installation, a jazz musician network, a children's book highlighting Sheboygan's diversity and hearing loop technology.
Bringing youth back to music through Vollrath Park installation
North High junior Eileen English’s project is Beat! A Musical Garden — an interactive music installation at Vollrath Park.
The installation will have five stations, each with an instrument highlighting a different piece of music, like Samba drums highlighting rhythm and an in-ground piano for pitch. Each station will be paired with a storyboard following a monkey named Coda as he learns about music.
English has played music for 13 years, starting in piano lessons at the age of 5. Now, she plays percussion for the Sheboygan Youth Symphony and drumline for North High.
Through her own music journey, English said she’s seen music group membership dwindle and fewer opportunities for kids to make music.
“I wanted to put that music back into our community and really get those kids interested in it again,” English said. “It's a really fun way for people to come together. It's something that anyone can do.”
English learned about music curriculum and students’ favorite and least favorite parts of music at Seton School and Lake Country Academy. She also worked with Percussion Play, an outdoor music park company, to design the installation.
She’s fundraising for the installation and instruments, which will cost about $70,000.
Learn more about the project on Instagram at @sheboyganbeat_amusicalgarden. Eileen English can be contacted at 24english521@sasd.net.
Creating a network of jazz musicians in Sheboygan
North High junior George Phillips’ project, Sheboogie Jazz Connection, aims to bring together diverse groups of musicians and create more community through jam sessions.
Phillips, who plays jazz piano and bass, drives to Milwaukee every Sunday to play with a jazz group. He saw that community was missing from Sheboygan, so he wanted to bring it here.
"If there was somebody who had the time and money and energy to organize all this and bring people together, create a network of musicians and venues, then this could really happen because there's a lot of eager musicians,” Phillips said.
Phillips has spread the word to local musicians and schools and organized several jam sessions at WordHaven BookHouse and Uptown Social.
“I really like to see people bouncing ideas off of each other and just having a great time at these jams,” said Phillips, who usually plays, too.
Paying homage to the genre’s roots is a key part of the sessions for Phillips, too.
"It's important to pay respect to the people who started jazz, like Black musicians, a long time ago — in the South, New Orleans, and other places, like during the Harlem Renaissance,” Phillips said.
Attending the performances is free, but tips are encouraged.
Learn more about the project at sheboogie.org or on Instagram at @sheboogie_jazz_connection. George Phillips can be contacted at sheboogiejazzconnection@gmail.com.
Capturing Sheboygan's cultural diversity in a children's book
North High senior Meghan Haas is working on the Sheboygan Spirit Project — a children’s book highlighting Sheboygan’s cultural heritage captured by the stories of first- and second-generation immigrants. She plans to publish the book and donate it to Sheboygan elementary schools.
Haas wanted her project to focus on the younger generation because others guided her at that age, she said.
With family members from Australia, India and Mexico, Haas was also attuned to recognizing the rich cultural diversity in Sheboygan.
“A lot of people just look at it (Sheboygan) as it's a little Wisconsin town by the lake,” she said. “Yeah, that's true, but there's a lot more people in it that contribute to its overall makeup.”
Haas learned about first- through fifth-grade students' diversity and inclusion knowledge to inform what information to include in the book. She found many students had little knowledge about the communities represented locally.
She’s interviewed many immigrants, several who are Bosnian, Russian and Indian, and learned about their heritage and traditions, reasons for and challenges with immigrating to the U.S., and ways they maintain their heritage in Sheboygan.
Haas is formatting the book and working to secure donations for publication.
Meghan Haas can be contacted at haasmeghan18@gmail.com.
Hearing technology in stores, restaurants to support individuals with hearing loss
North High junior Isabella Froh installed an Open Ears hearing loop at Johnston’s Bakery with hopes to install more in local stores and restaurants.
The project is close to Froh, who was diagnosed with hearing loss in sixth grade. She said it was “terrifying” as the only one in her grade with hearing loss, but it has brought good to her life.
Froh said her project was inspired by seeing someone in Canada install hearing loops in stores. The loops are telecoil loops that can connect directly to someone’s hearing aid within a 4-foot radius. When a cashier speaks through a microphone, it’ll connect right to the hearing aid.
She’s worked with DRS Sound and Contacta Inc. for the telecoil equipment and installation.
Froh plans to expand her project through next year and hopes to fundraise for more installations, possibly in high school auditoriums and grocery stores.
The most rewarding feeling was trying out the hearing loop at Johnston’s Bakery, she said.
“I've not experienced that really in many years, so to know that I was able to get that in and get the ball rolling on it felt really good,” Froh said.
Froh is fundraising for more hearing loops.
Learn more about Open Ears at https://open-ears.webflow.io/. Isabella Froh can be contacted at openears@gmail.com.
Want to learn more about the projects? Several fellows will host presentations in May.
George Phillips’ presentation will take form as the “Big Sheboogie,” a large jazz jam session May 18. It’ll be at 6 p.m. at Paradigm Coffee and Music in downtown Sheboygan.
Eileen will give a presentation in the fall after their installation is completed. A date and location are not determined yet.
Meghan Haas will host a presentation at Bookworm Gardens, but more details are to be determined.
Isabella Froh’s presentation is at 12:30 p.m. May 20 at Johnston’s Bakery.
More: Sheboygan Lutheran/Christian freshman Keeran Blattner has a memorable high school soccer debut
Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @alexx_garner.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan North student projects bring musical garden, hearing loop
