“Through music, I try to connect to my students, so we can grow together,” says Vocal and General Music Teacher Kasey Julian, who proudly embraces a unique multidisciplinary, socially conscious approach.
In November 2024, her students at Orchard Hills Elementary School in Novi, Michigan, sang for the Volunteers of America Holidays of Hope Gala to help raise funds for Operation Backpack, an initiative that provides school supplies to tens of thousands of children experiencing homelessness, poverty of foster care. “This was personally meaningful to me because I received school supplies from this same organization when I was in 5th to 12th grade,” Julian says.
Her advanced choir presented a concert with the theme of “Home.” During rehearsals, Julian had several discussions about what a home is as well as honest conversations about homelessness. Instead of donating funds to support the music program, the attendees at the concert were asked to donate snacks, underwear, socks and gift cards to the Oakland Schools’ McKinney-Vento program that supports students in need. “When we donated the snacks and clothes, my students wrote notes to be included that shared things about them and their interests so the students receiving the items would know more about them and why they wanted to donate,” Julian says.
Another example of Julian’s forward-thinking teaching is when she and her students read books about how landfills impact communities and the ocean. She highlighted how people from Paraguay and Rapa Nui use trash to make musical instruments. Then her students are tasked to create their own instruments from items they find at home (“they must have permission to use them!” Julian says) and share them with the class.
Julian is a member of her district’s DEI team and works with other teachers to set goals and develop activities in support of diversity, equity and inclusion. The district hosts a multicultural night where 30 to 40 volunteers share their culture and familial identities as well as a handful of cultural performances. “Our aim is to foster a sense of community and belonging by valuing and celebrating each other’s unique backgrounds,” Julian says. “Children often find beautiful similarities in their home lives even if their families seem very different.”
Each year, the event ends with all current and past Orchard Hills students singing, “Hello to All the Children of the World,” which incorporates many languages and unites the community together with music.
In addition to teaching about socially conscious concepts, Julian also sees her job as helping her students manage themselves, consider others and become thoughtful leaders and lifelong learners. ”In class, we value different feelings like working hard while problem solving, being at peace in a song, or finding compromises when confronted with contrasting ideas. These feelings or experiences are extremely valuable as artists and people to learn and grow from,” Julian explains
For the last three years, Julian also serves as the Chair for the Young Composers of Michigan for the Michigan Music Education Association. Each year, she invites K-12 students in the state to submit original compositions, then has professional Michigan composers listen, mentor and give feedback to each submission. Then a group of students selected by the mentor composers are invited to premier their pieces at the MMEA conference.
Even when students leave Julian’s classroom, she continues to encourage and push them. “I continue communications with their parents about opportunities I see for their age group, and I continue private voice lessons with a handful of them,” she says with a smile. “Truly, they never stop being my students! I will root for them and cheer them on for the rest of their lives!”
