Phoenix Symphony’s Mind Over Music Champions Collaboration and Alternative Learning Through Music

By Doyal D'Angelo Bolin

Valerie Bontrager, senior director of community engagement at the Phoenix Symphony, believes that one available path to sustained impact in modern education is the connection between music and STEM. 

Mind Over Music, a program of the Phoenix Symphony, uses STEM learning processes like observation, modeling, prediction, comparison and communication to reinforce academic concepts through the exploration of music. The program pairs professional musicians with teachers to develop customized lessons that support curriculum objectives, but also serve as a way to open the students up to music instruction. 

Robert Bondlow, senior director of corporate and foundation relations at the Phoenix Symphony, sees the integration of music with traditional instruction as a way to keep students positively engaged. 

"It's a way to reinforce what the teachers are already teaching, and a good way to utilize an alternative learning method," Bondlow said. "Sometimes if you present something a different way, all of a sudden, the light bulb hits, and the kids get it."

Carly Bacha, teacher in the Upward and Onward transition program at The Academies at South Mountain, helps students (18-21) work on life skills, workplace skills and ways to better navigate the local community. Daum has collaborated with Bacha for eight years, and they’ve built a synergy that is only natural after so much time optimizing instruction together. 

"We can kind of work off of each other, and whatever we're working on in the room, she's able to connect with music," Bacha said. "For instance, at the beginning of the year, we teach best practices in the workplace. Jenna could come in and do a fake one, where she forgot her flute and her clothes are all messed up. Then she could do a real one where she's professional, comes early, has her flute and her music."

What began as a program for Title I elementary schools in the Creighton School District has evolved to serve diverse student populations, including those in adaptive learning environments and correctional facilities. This expansion came naturally as teacher-musician relationships flourished.

"The relationship with one of those teachers actually got us into Durango Correctional," Bontrager said. "She moved to the Durango Correctional Facility school and then called us up and said we could bring the program into Durango."

Over the years, the program has extended itself to Esperanza in Tempe, while Bacha and Daum have continued their partnership in multiple Phoenix Union High School District campuses, including Carl Hayden, Cesar Chavez and Betty Fairfax.

Beyond classroom learning, Mind Over Music includes field trips to the symphony, where students apply practical skills, community-based training, in planning, transportation and professional behavior.

"We go online, they pick their tickets, they have to add them to the cart, purchase them," Bacha said. "My population of students haven't had experience with that independence."

These excursions often involve family members, bringing musical experiences to communities that might not otherwise have access.

"We're in South Phoenix, and the population is normally of lower socioeconomic status," Bacha said. "When we get to Symphony Hall, I almost feel like we're giving the family an experience and an opportunity, and also bringing this music and this culture into their life that they might not have had."

For many students, particularly those with diverse learning needs, the program provides unique ways to engage with educational content.

Bacha speaks about how inclusivity and accommodation rise with music being an accentuating factor in instruction. Students have another way to connect and participate. 

"I think music opens them up, and they want to participate when they're included," Bacha said. "They don't have to read five paragraphs, they're feeling the music, saying how it makes them feel. And then we're still adding it into the curriculum."

Daum has observed how the program creates connections beyond traditional learning barriers.

"There's something about music. I think some of Carly's students maybe don't always feel seen," Daum said. "By the music, there's something deeper with that connection, that they are able to connect and be seen in ways that they weren't previously."

The program showcases positive adult collaboration, demonstrating to students how different strengths can complement each other in professional settings. And how learning can be a fun endeavor. 

"The students see two adults collaborating, making mistakes, laughing, having fun, asking each other questions."

Funded entirely through foundations and corporate donors, Mind Over Music provides these experiences at no cost to schools.

"The more funding we get, the more lesson plans, schools, and students we can reach."

As Mind Over Music continues to expand, its focus remains on supporting teachers and meeting students where they are in life. 

"We're trying to take away the barrier of the honor student and the adaptive learner," Bontrager said. "Generally, everything we're doing within education, we want all of it to be for all learners."

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For more information on Mind Over Music, visit https://www.phoenixsymphony.org/education-community/mind-over-music/. Photos courtesy of The Phoenix Symphony.