Naperville Central introduced adapted music as a new class for the 2024-25 school year replacing the formerly offered adapted art class. This semester, seven special education students are participating in the class alongside seven peer leaders.
The class is taught by Faith Tsou, an orchestra teacher, who hopes to create an environment where students can find joy and expression through music.
The students begin each day by singing a hello song to each other, followed by singing their classmate’s names. The hello and goodbye song has been a big hit among students, according to Tsou.
“We’ve gotten into a routine where we always start by sharing what’s good, which is something I learned from observing a grad school class,” Tsou said. “Students and their peers can catch up on what’s good in their life and I think it helps get them to build that relationship.”
Some students already knew their peers before joining the class. Senior Anna Zenow met her peer, senior Claire Zeitz, last year in adapted P.E..
“I have taken choir since elementary school and my adapted student, Claire, loves music,” Zenow said. “She’s always talking about music so I felt that [because] I already knew her from working with her in adapted P.E., it would be fun to branch out. Claire loves it so much and all the other students love it too because we use all different sorts of instruments.”
Students have enjoyed the maracas and other instruments in the class, according to Tsou. Each day students take turns to share one song that they like and listen to it as a class.
“We started exploring the piano and I didn’t know how it would go,” Tsou said. “There’s some students during class who would hum a lot or make a lot of noises and distractions, but once they get on the piano, they’re silent because they’re really into it. It’s very special to see how they respond to music.”
Adapted music has proven to be beneficial for both the students and peers, according to Zenow.
“Working with adapted students has helped me choose what I want to continue with in the future,” Zenow said. “I don’t think I want to teach, but I think it’s brought me to realize that I want to help others. I have no idea what I want to do but I feel like working with others who have harder times learning has made me feel like I want to be someone who helps them be just like us.”
Senior Isaac Rivera went into the class with a specific goal in mind: learn more about the teaching profession.
“I was interested in the class because I think it’s a different side of teaching,” Rivera said. “I want to be a teacher and this class offers a different perspective. But also, music is music. I really like music in general and being able to teach people music is just fun.”
Tsou mentions that many students’ disabilities impact their ability to express how they’re feeling, which sometimes leaves her unsure of what specific needs or issues they might be experiencing. However, as the year progresses, she’s learning more about each student’s behaviors and habits, and she’s grateful for the support of her student peers.
“I had to kind of relearn that it doesn’t have to be like an orchestra, band or choir class,” Tsou said. “It doesn’t have to be like a performance-based class. It could be a class where we just enjoy music and that has been a freeing perspective.”
This shift in focus has emphasized the deeper connection students can form with music, beyond just technical skills.
“Music feeds the soul,” Zenow said. “We listen to different types of music every day whether we know it or not. I think being able to find the steady tempo of a song, knowing the rhythms and feeling the beat in our bodies is really important.”
Tsou is a first-year teacher at Central. Before joining Central, she earned her master’s degree in music education at Northwestern, following four years of teaching middle school and high school. During graduate school, she took a course specifically focused on teaching music to special education students, which allowed her to observe existing music programs for students with disabilities in specialized schools.
“It’s my first time teaching this class,” Tsou said. “Every setting is so different, so even though I had experience from grad school, each student wants and needs different things”
Tsou has received help and resources from Oak Park and River Forest District 200. She was given flexibility to tailor the class to her students’ specific needs.
“What I’m learning is to make [the class] more focused on keeping students happy and having a positive experience through music,” Tsou said. “It doesn’t have to be about learning notes to perform a song. Let’s just enjoy music.”
