As we press on with Everest Value School’s construction, we wanted to introduce you to a few more of the folks whose intense dedication to their students inspire us to build. When Principal Chris Medinger selected his team of Everest Pioneers, everyone brought unique talents.Alice Dryden brought the music. With a background in music education and composition, Alice brought performance talent. More than that, she brought a keen ability to draw the music out of every child. From his first conversations with Alice, Chris quickly realized how integral music could be to building community in a new school. Soon, they both realized what an enrollment draw it would be to have so many rich musical opportunities in a small neighborhood school.
Alice gave students a strong voice in decisions about what genres of music to study, what theatrical productions to mount, and even what individual songs to sing in concert. It was a short step from there to having them write and perform their own works. And just as research suggested, effects on academic performance were swift and positive. Concentration improved. So did behavior. Even math was less daunting. Beats and notes are fractions!
The Everest Value pioneers started with a goal of providing performance opportunities for every child – in art, music, poetry and more. Visitors to the campus can’t miss the realization of that goal, and we can’t wait to showcase more performances in our new space.
I look forward to updating you on Everest Value’s construction progress soon. Thank you, as always, for your dedication to Value Schools.
David Doyle
President and CEO
Value Schools