Terri Gabriel, Artstrides Co-founder and Music Together In School provider, New York, New York

How did you become involved with Music Together In-School? Where are you currently offering the curriculum?

I was a preschool classroom teacher, and the school I worked at began using the Music Together in-school curriculum. Soon after, I took the training and became a Music Together teacher. I wanted to serve a larger community, so I initiated ArtStrides, a nonprofit organization that has allowed us to provide Music Together to a Title 1 public school in a highly underserved area of the Bronx. It opened in 2011 as part of the New Schools Initiative, and we were there from the beginning. This is an outreach project and is provided at no cost to the school. We teach seven classes a week to about 160 students.

Can you share one of your favorite stories about your teaching experience?

One of my favorite moments occurred during a school-wide neighborhood trip. On the walk back to the school, I started singing one of our movement-substitution songs as we were "walking," "stomping," "stopping," and "crossing" the street. Before I knew it, the other classes in front and in back of us heard and joined in! It became a real school community experience.