Key Lessons We Can Learn from High School Musicals

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, March/April 2018 Issue

By Keith Mason

My appreciation of musicals started with The Sound of Music soundtrack. As a child, I listened to the entire album. I branched out to other musicals, discovering they comprised a favourite form of entertainment both on stage and screen.

Later on in life, I realized that musicals had much to offer instructionally, and thus bridged a favourite pastime with my professional life. Musicals form an important part of the arts, serving as powerful resources for student learning, engagement, and motivation.

When I approached the school’s musical directors to see how I could contribute, I wasn’t expecting how much my career would be impacted. I learned our school was participating in a local competition, the Rising Star Awards, with our local theatre. I was tasked with bridging the school musical, Carousel, with our high school curriculum and state standards. I was also put in charge of building a lobby display.

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Keith Mason, PhD, is a researcher and educator based in New Jersey who specializes in language education, curriculum, phonetics, Romance linguistics, and musicals in the curriculum.

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Keith Mason
Keith Mason
Keith Mason, PhD, is a researcher and educator based in New Jersey who specializes in language education, curriculum, phonetics, Romance linguistics, and musicals in the curriculum.

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