The students were surprised when John Legend and his musical director Eugene “Man Man” Roberts appeared on the screen and helped with the lesson.
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“Connecting students with learning that is relevant can be powerful,” Springfield City Superintendent Bob Hill said in a statement. “We are grateful to LRNG and CISCO for connecting our students to John Legend and Eugene ‘Man Man’ Roberts, who was kind enough to mentor our students.”
LRNG is an organization that works with schools in cities across the U.S. to help innovate education — especially in school districts that serve low-income students. Springfield is one of 12 cities that’s part of the LRNG network.
Connecting students with Legend and Man Man was a good opportunity, Springfield City Spokeswoman Kim Fish said.
“We have an audio lab but we don’t have anybody that is a professional and a lot of the kids are interested in learning what it would take to be a professional,” Fish said. “John and Man Man had the interest in helping students to get better than what they are doing.”
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The video was shot in the old Springfield South High School building also known as The Dome. It was filmed inside the YOUmedia Learning Lab inside The Dome. The YOUmedia center is owned and operated by SCSD and is open to all high school students from all districts.
Students were taught by Springfield mentor Sawyer Schneider using the spark board. A full camera crew, including a director and several producers, were inside the center filming throughout the day in August.
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Springfield High School student Lorence McNeal said the opportunity to work with Legend was special and helped.
“This re-instilled the drive inside of me and re-lit the fire in my belly,” McNeal said. “This definitely makes me want to learn more. The more you learn, the more possible it is to have a successful career.”
Student Da’Shay Boone also said she enjoyed the experience.
“I definitely want to be more educated in everything,” she said. “It’s not just about singing. A lot goes into everything to make the music sound the way it does.”
The experience for the kids will be lasting, Fish said.
“We are thrilled we were able to pull it all together and our kids had an impactful experience,” Fish said. “The video is only about 10 minutes long but there was a lot of work that went into it with the kids and John’s team.”
By the Numbers
7,719: Springfield City Schools enrollment in 2017.
70: Students that use the YouMedia center a day
700: Students that use the YouMedia center a year
Go to SpringfieldNewsSun.com to watch the video with Springfield students and John Legend learning how to make music together.
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