Students at the William Russell and Henry Grew Elementary Schools Prove Their Stardom during America SCORES New England’s Young Songwriters Program!

This winter, participants in ASNE's Young Songwriter's Program at the Henry Grew Elementary School in Hyde Park and the William Russell Elementary School in Dorchester spent 10 weeks writing, recording, and producing their own hip-hop songs and music videos. During after school sessions led by ASNE’s Education Director, Dwayne Simmons, and ASNE’s Elementary Soccer Director, Caroline Doctor, these students learned to write with a purpose and used their poetic skills to craft hip-hop lyrics that would send positive messages to their peers.

Examples of these empowering lyrics include girls from the Henry Grew School showing their team spirit with the original piece, “We’re the Cougars.” In this uplifting song, the girls spoke to their talents on the field and in the classroom with the following lyric: “We all feel good when we kick that ball/ and with poetry we have it all!” At the same time, another group of students from the Henry Grew were composing their original song, “The World”, which demands that everyone think about the children in the world before doing anything harmful. This commanding song serves as a reminder to us all that, “the world is not a toxic waste/ it’s a place with all 50 states.” Down the road in Dorchester, ASNE poet-athletes at the William Russell School summed up America SCORES’ core value of teamwork in just one, apt line from their song, “Soccer is the Best,” which states, “winning or losing, it doesn’t matter much to me/ but for winning, teamwork is the key.”

To hear these one of a kind hip-hop lyrics for yourself, visit America SCORES New England’s YouTube channel, where you can view all six of the music videos produced during ASNE’s Young Songwriters Program this winter. By clicking here you can watch poet-athlete Jayme perform her original hip-hop dedication to “The Nanny” (played by ASNE’s own Dwayne Simmons!) while she also strums on her new guitar, or watch Andrea, Anthony and Christian present “Music to Sing,” a touching tribute to their favorite performers—Shakira, Daddy Yankee, and the late Michael Jackson.