"There

are great opportunities available in this business that I want to share

with these students. There is a great deal of employment potential out

there that they might not be familiar with," said Litwin.

When the project

is finished, the PTO plans to provide each student with his or her own

CD. Last year, Kedron was awarded a grant from the Georgia Council of

the Arts Young Audiences, Inc. to assist with the funding of the project.

All students

are spending at least one session with the artist during his one-week,

two-day stay at the school, but the entire fifth grade will have the opportunity

to participate in a second class where they have the opportunity to learn

more in-depth information about music recording technology.

During the

second session, fifth graders get to hear how they originally sounded

when the music was first recorded and then listen to the final version

with added special effects. Students watch the applications being applied

as the music software is projected onto a large screen in the classroom.

"You will

be amazed at how it sounds the same but yet different," Litwin told

fifth-graders in Cathy Carlton's and Mary Elizabeth Mendenhall's class

as they listen to themselves singing America the Beautiful both

before and after special effects were added.

In addition

to recording music, students in each classroom will also design their

own CD jackets. At the beginning of school, the classrooms selected an

animal as their theme for the year. Each room will be given a cow, designed

the image of their classroom animal inside of the cow.

"We selected

the cow because it is very much an American animal. Our theme is American

heritage so we want to keep everything as American as possible,"

said parent organizer Joan Perry.

In April, the

school will host another artist in residence, Felton Eaddy, who will work

with the students to create patriotic poetry that will grace the inside

panel of the CD cover. Each classroom will work collaboratively to create

both the artwork and poetry so that individual classes can have ownership

of their CD. When students complete the project, appropriately titled

"Celebrating America," they will have combined music, visual

arts and language arts to create a professional looking and sounding CD

they can call their own.

"Collaboration

is always an exciting experience. We have noticed that students will do

collaboratively what they wouldn't feel comfortable doing on their own.

We think children become extremely empowered by creating and having a

tangible product to show for their efforts," said Perry.

The school

has created a web site, www.stormpages.com/douthard , for parents

who would like to get a sneak preview of the songs and poems that will

be featured on each class' CD. Clips of previously recorded songs are

also being aired each day on the school's closed-circuit morning broadcast.

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