Mustard Seed School

Middle School Students Find Their Voice with Help of Acclaimed Singer/Songwriter Ginny Owens

December 10, 2007, Hoboken, NJ -- "Get your write on!" Ginny Owens, singer/songwriter and visiting teacher at Mustard Seed School, announces at the beginning of a middle school mini-term class titled "Finding Your Voice."

"Write two sentences to introduce yourselves," she continues. Students pull out their journals; classmates discover that Samantha is adopted from Korea and had a huge first birthday bash, while Alex swam competitively when he was younger and loves to play guitar.

Owens reveals the second part of the exercise. "I'm going to start songs for each of you to build upon using these sentences." A few giggles fill the room, more excited than nervous.

Next up: performance. Isabella and Taisha stand in the front of the class, ready to perform. They ask Owens to play "Silent Night" while they sing a compliment melody that they learned in chorus. It takes a few tries to make the song work, but soon Owens is playing as the rest of the class hums and the two girls sing. Their confidence builds as the song unfolds.

Owens, who has released seven projects in the past eight years, has performed at prestigious events such as Lillith Fair, The Sundance Film Festival, and White House South Lawn Tee Ball. Even with a demanding schedule, she chooses to spend some of her time at Mustard Seed School this December to work with this energetic class of sixth, seventh and eighth graders.

"I want to encourage students to be confident about who they are. We all act more purposefully when we know what we believe," says Owens regarding the motivation for giving her time.

She continues, "I could teach 100 things to students. I hope they walk away feeling heard, feeling listened to, and having expressed themselves whether through lyrics that they've written or through performing. I always felt misunderstood as a teenager because I was blind (Owens has been blind since age two) or because I was a creative person. But I got through it and some of the songs on my albums are rewrites of songs that I wrote in high school." She laughs. "Anyway, I think that I'm getting more out of this than the kids. They give me a different perspective and I love the strong sense of community here. I am also drawn to the creativity and diversity at Mustard Seed School. I grew up going to an inner city school so I appreciate Mustard Seed's commitment to serve children from all walks of life, especially children from different socioeconomic backgrounds."

When students have a moment to reflect, they have a lot to say about what they are getting from the class:

"Ms. Owens is teaching us to sing in front of people," says Samantha. "I'm learning that singing can be like talking," says Lynsey. "We're learning how to express ourselves," says Nikhil.

Mustard Seed School has a priority to expose students to those who are masters at their craft. Every December "mini-term", middle school students have the opportunity to select two classes that will build unique skills, one in the arts and one in the Humanities. "Finding Your Voice" is just one of the offerings that augments ongoing academic work. Other classes include Peace in the Middle East: Is Nonviolent Conflict Resolution Possible; Shakespeare: As You Like It; A Film Review: Movies of War; Ancient Greece; Geography Bee Challenge; Japanese Music, Language and Culture; Painting and Story; and Knitting.

For almost 30 years, Mustard Seed School has been addressing the educational needs of the urban community by stimulating and broadening the experiences of city children and by educating students in an intercultural, interdenominational Christian setting. Mustard Seed School has an intentional mission to the urban poor, with over 50 percent of its students receiving financial aid. The school has 196 students today at an elementary and middle school campus (Kindergarten through eighth grade) and a preschool campus, The Nest Early Learning Center.