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Music Lessons from a World Explorer
From a community of 2,410 people, who would imagine going to Antarctica or Senegal? Let alone space?
"Just apply."
It's the words of our very own music teacher, Lisa Werner and it applies not only to the students she teaches but her own family and co-workers. You don't know if you don't try! This mentality has allowed Lisa to explore the ends of the earth ... and space ...
Her worldly work comes alive in the classroom through the senses of sound and touch, the use of technology and teamwork, and instilling creativity in students.
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Mission: sositaOne of 10 teachers across the United States to be chosen to be a part of this program, and only one of four to fly. More than that - she was THE ONLY band teacher! (Most are science and math teachers). Her combination of science and music bring a unique perspective not only to our students, but to the entire National Space Society program!
St. Bruno students learned about current space research and engineered their own sound-related experiments, including composing their own song in zero gravity!
With the help of the St. Bruno Parish School students, the flight mission was been named SOSITA: Sounds Of Space In The Air.
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NOAA Ship Bell M. ShimadaOne of eight teachers from the US to be selected to work alongside scientists aboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel. Lisa was aboard NOAA Ship Bell M. Shimada as part of the EXPRESS research project. As part of this project, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) observed the ocean floor for seeps, monitor marine life after a fishing restriction went into place, and to investigate whether the area looked like it could handle sea wind turbines. Lisa also got to take part in a study on zooplankton and eDNA work. St. Bruno music students learned how sound was used to communicate between the research ship and the AUV, and how NOAA careers mirror musical ensemble careers. They also had a great time looking at the underwater pictures to find hidden octopuses.
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Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship - Ship enduranceOne of 35 teachers selected from the US and Canada to participate in the program, and one of eight teachers getting to go on her dream expedition to Antarctica! St. Bruno students learned a lot about the National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions adventure, creating their own bucket lists and questions for Mrs. Werner to complete. They learned about the Antarctic Treaty, composed music to represent landmasses, Antarctic sounds, ice melt data, and the moods of Antarctica, and explored penguin noises!
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Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms FellowshipOne of 21 teachers selected to travel to Senegal, where Mrs. Werner had the opportunity to learn about Senegalese Teranga, culture, and school system. In addition to observing classes in a community school in Diamniadio, she also had the chance to teach some music and stem lessons. St. Bruno students enjoyed learning how the Senegalese students were different, but even better was the lesson on how much they had in common with our students!
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Dousman music teacher makes trek to antarticaThe best teachers go to great lengths for their students; some might say to the ends of the earth. One music teacher took that saying quite literally and brought all her students along for the ride.
Read the full story here
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Lisa Werner talks about zero gravity flightYou might remember we spoke with Lisa Werner before her zero gravity flight earlier this month. Now she's back to tell us about the trip.
Watch video here
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Dousman Music Educator Honored With WMEA Creative Sparks Award
WAUNAKEE, Wis. (Nov. 4, 2024) – Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA) is proud to spotlight its 2024 service award recipients -- individuals who have sustained a commitment to music education and made a positive impact in the school, community or state.
Lisa J. Werner, music educator at St. Bruno Parish School in Dousman, is the recipient of this year’s WMEA Melvin F. Pontius Creative Sparks in Music Education Award. This award recognizes a creative music curriculum that fosters imaginative, creative and innovative teaching practices in music education. WMEA President Will Janssen and Past President Brad Schneider presented Werner with the award at the annual Wisconsin State Music Conference on October 23 in Madison.
Werner has demonstrated “creative sparks” with her ongoing development of a curriculum that experiments with music in zero gravity as part of the Embedded Teacher Program funded by NASA Flight Opportunities Program and by the International Space Station National Laboratory. Her work has involved playing band instruments in parabolic flight to bring attention to the connections between music and countless other areas of study. Werner’s efforts have also been recognized nationally.
Please join WMEA in thanking and congratulating Werner!
For more information about WMEA or its awards, go to wmeamusic.org.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Dousman music educator and WMEA Melvin F. Pontius Creative Sparks in Music Education Award recipient Lisa J. Werner pictured with WMEA President Will Janssen at the annual Wisconsin State Music Conference on October 23 in Madison.
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Meet Mrs. Lisa Werner - General Music and Band teacherLisa Werner serves as our music educator at St. Bruno Parish School. She has worked as Senior Symphony Orchestra Manager with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and is Associate Camp Director for the Warhawk Summer Band Camps at UW-Whitewater. She has an instrumental music education degree from UW-Whitewater, and a masters degree in conducting from the American Band College through Southern Oregon University. Lisa enjoys performing in jazz ensembles and local pit orchestras. Mrs. Werner is a National Board Certified teacher, and is also certified by National Geographic, and as a Google Educator. She has served on the Wisconsin Music Educators Association board, coached the Wisconsin School Music Association Middle Level Honors Project, and was the first place winner of the 2023 Lowell Mason Music Advocacy National Competition Award. Lisa has also become the first music teacher to be awarded the Space Station Ambassadors Exceptional Educator Award (in 2024). Lisa is constantly looking for new ways to connect music to other content areas for the students in her classroom, including her most recent experience performing students’ experiments on sound and music while playing her trombone on a zero gravity flight. When not designing unique learning experiences for the St. Bruno students, she can be found traveling with her husband Josh and their two daughters.
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A Note from mrs. lisa werner
Music has been a part of every time period in human history, and is a part of every culture on the planet. Music connects people together. These are my core beliefs as a music teacher. My passion as an educator is finding, exploring and celebrating the connections between music, other content areas, and real-world applications. I absolutely love digging into subject matters that seem unrelated in any way to music and making those connections visible to the students I teach!
I know that most of the students I teach will not go on to become professional musicians, but studying music still has impacts on their lives. Making music gives students so many benefits, as has been proven time and again through scientific research. However, my favorite thing about making music is the many places music has taken me in my life - from playing in a jazz club in London, to performing on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, to now going to Antarctica. I would not have had any of these experiences without having learned how to work hard for a polished end result. These are great examples to show the students that music can take you anywhere!
The greatest thing about all of these connections in music is that students get to see the practical use of their skills in other school subjects. As an example, students who say that they are not good at math are often surprised to know they are using math every time that they are looking at the rhythm of music. When I was a kid, I had a rough calculus class in high school that shook my confidence in my math skills. I want to show students that they do math all the time, and that they understand these concepts more than they realize. Using music to understand something that students find difficult gives them a little bit more confidence to jump into other subject matters or try things that they might not necessarily think that they could do. My classroom is a safe place to experiment with new ideas and experiences to help the students find what they love. I use music as a guide to introduce them to new ideas and experiences, as they explore concepts and skills that may ignite their curiosity and passion! I love all of the experiences that music has given me, but there is nothing more exciting than watching students find their own passion, and dreaming big about where their journeys will take them!
-Lisa Werner
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