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Harmony Park, an Outdoor Musical Play Ground!Colonial Trail’s Outdoor Musical Classroom is
incredible!
From finalizing the budget to selecting a site to
developing detailed landscape design plans to
determining the instruments...everything fell
right in place for this educational project which
promises to inspire cultural arts, rhythm, and
movement for our school community.
At a Glance:
Visit
Freenotes.
Parents, staff and teachers at Colonial Trail,
Henrico County Public School officials and
professional consultants have dedicated many hours
to bring this project to fruition. With a project
this ambitious, there are many steps which had to be
completed including grant research, writing and reporting;
site selection; landscape design and installation; safety
and security planning; storage for the instruments prior
to installation; budgeting and cash flow planning; the
bidding/procurement process through the county for
various purchased goods and services; and instrument
selection/ordering.
Site selection included a detailed analysis of safety,
acoustics, drainage patterns, electrical requirements,
shade, security, accessibility, topography, soil
compatibility and integration with the long-term
physical plan for the school campus. The site was
determined with the approval and involvement of
John Barber, HCPS Safety Coordinator and
Nancy Dransfield, landscape
architect with
Landesign of Virginia, Inc.
who designed the site plan.
Additionally, a soil analysis of the area was conducted to
evaluate the site for drainage and soil quality and stability.
Just after the site selection was finalized, Henrico County Public Schools provided several Crape Myrtles, Purple Leaf Plums, Zelkova, Oaks, Maples, and Cherry Trees for both the overall school campus and for the Harmony Park site. After consulting with other schools and park systems already using outdoor musical instruments by Freenotes, Inc., the decision was made to install the instruments directly on the grass instead of creating a mulched area. This will be more cost effective and will minimize maintenance to the site. Nancy Dransfield, the landscape architect working on the project,created a plan to maximize the placement and installation of these trees which are now planted and being cared for by parent volunteers and the maintenance staff at Colonial Trail Elementary. Considerations such as shade, accessibility, aesthetics, instrument placement and acoustics were addressed in the placement of these donated trees on the Harmony Park site.
Freenotes, Inc. manufactures dozens of different kinds of indoor and outdoor musical instruments. Hence, the process to finalize this particular suite of instruments, specifically selected for and by Colonial Trail, was extensive and required many weeks of planning and volunteer hours. One of the major goals of the project was to provide enough instruments for a minimum of 25 students to play as part of the classroom-structured, SOL-based lesson or exploratory free play. Additionally, complementary tones, tuning and range of the instruments were analyzed. And, finally, the logistics of the physical placement of each instrument per the landscape design was strongly considered. Many people were involved in the process of
selecting instruments. So in preparing for
the instrument order, Mr. Cantone and the parent
volunteers consulted with the Colonial Trail Elementary
School music teachers; the landscape
architect for Harmony Park,
Nancy Dransfield;
and, the instrument designer from
Freenotes, Inc. on multiple occasions. Since all
of the teachers on the Colonial Trail Elementary
School music staff were new in 2008-2009, in
September, Mr. Cantone and the parent volunteers
sought their input into the selection of the
instruments and site selection process. Additionally,
interviews with several organizations where the
instruments are currently installed in schools and
playgrounds, as well as with several music specialists
in percussion and world music helped inform the decision
on the instruments.
The County and the school are currently obtaining
formal bids from contractors for the installation
of the instruments. A vendor will be finalized by
the end of January. Installation of the instruments,
which are set in concrete, is scheduled for March 2009,
ideally after the last hard freeze of the season.
The timing of the instrument installation and the
voluminous storage requirements for the instruments were
carefully considered as part of the decision on when
to place the instrument order.
Colonial Trail Elementary School teachers have already developed, and are continuing to develop, a portfolio of lesson plans for Harmony Park which will include science, music, technology, art, math, social studies and physical education SOL’s.
Harmony Park project is a special project being managed directly by Colonial Trail Elementary School. In July 2008, Mr. Cantone and the team of parent volunteers began meeting every other week to plan and execute the Harmony Park project. This team of parent volunteers serves as advisors to Mr. Cantone. The team of parents includes Laura O’Brien, Linda Saksvig, Julie Gigante, Linda Levine and Michael and Margaret Storti. A team of Colonial Trail Teachers, made up of the grade level chairs, is also designated as advisors to Mr. Cantone regarding Harmony Park.
Harmony Park is partially funded by a generous donation of $10,000 from the Colonial Trail Elementary PTA. The Henrico Education Foundation grant of $2,580 was awarded in August 2008 and deposited in the school bank account. Additionally, Mr. Cantone and the parent volunteers
were successful in obtaining a $10,000 grant from
Partners in the Arts. The Partners in the Arts grant
is provided in incremental payments from September
2008 through June 2009 and the funds are deposited
in the school bank account as they are received.
The Partners in the Arts grant requires site visits
and extensive reporting requirements. In September,
a group from Partners in the Arts, Mr. Cantone,
the school’s music teachers, the parent volunteer
team and County officials met, at the request of
Partner in the Arts, to review the Harmony Park plans.
We welcome continued input and involvement by parents,teachers and students as we come into the final stretch of Harmony Park.
Questions? Please
ask!
I would like to hear from you!
I will give you a quick response and a page on
this site dedicated to the topic. You can share
it with your friends and the readers will benefit too!
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