Montgomery Community Media

The first day of school I present my class with a challenging math problem. All the students know we are creating an original opera, but know little else about the process they will experience during the year. So, I let them know we must start working immediately, give them the date of the opera premiere […]

The first day of school beckons an intriguing metaphor, one that will pique the curiosity, create enthusiasm for learning, and open doors to discovering a new way of being in the classroom. A Venetian mask rests in a wrapped box, waiting to be revealed as a gift to begin the New Year. When opened, the […]

In their final words to the company on the last day of school, the students bared their souls in sharing their deepest emotions and heartfelt wishes for all. Though we will miss this circle and those who complete it, we will now move on to form new circles. And through these circles we will pass […]

On the last day of school, known as Move Up Day, all students travel as a group to meet their new teachers in the next grade level. Members of Harness the Stars Kids Opera Company made banners of welcome for the incoming company with sincere, thought provoking messages. They also wrote individual letters. Their words […]

After the opera, the company loses its sense of purpose for a short period and needs to find its way, its new path. The students try to revert to previous behaviors and “old ways” until they realize that they are changed forever. They can’t go back. Then, they determine the route for a new journey […]

Everyone is caught off guard by mixed emotions the day after the opera. Realizing that the culminating event for which we have been preparing all year has now passed is depressing and disappointing. The process of striking the set and taking everything down that we have spent months creating illicits a host of feelings that […]

Harness the Stars Kids Opera Company, a student run opera at Stedwick Elementary School, showcased its original opera “Strike N’ Spare” earlier this month. MCPS-TV was on the scene with the performers. Visit our PEG partner MCPS TV to view more of its local programming. For a look behind, read Mary Ruth McGinn’s blog, Learning […]

It may have been an original opera about failure but the students at Stedwick Elementary School’s Harness the Stars Kids Opera Company were successful in getting their message across. Krista Brick has the story. Wednesday the students in Mary Ruth McGinn’s class debuted their original opera at the Montgomery Village school called Strike N’ Spare, […]

Harness the Stars Kids Opera Company understands well that making mistakes and pushing through setbacks are part of the learning process. However, knowing this doesn’t make it easier when we are inside a situation that presents us with disappointment, doubt and hard feelings. After a particularly difficult afternoon when company members were struggling with internal […]

In order to create a realistic story and bring it to life, it is imperative that we research the setting of our opera . . . a bowling alley.  Thanks to Bowl America in Germantown, Maryland, we were able to do just that.  Half of the company had never been bowling.  What we learned from […]