BVEF Spotlight Series: Music Teacher Darren Allen

Bay music teacher Darren Allen with BVEF Grants Chair Ellie Bricmont. (photo by Bev Walborn)

In November 2012, the Bay Village Education Foundation awarded grants to several innovative educators in the district. Darren Allen, music teacher at Bay Middle School and Bay High School, was awarded $1,330 to expand the SmartMusic program in his classes. In light of Bay’s eleventh consecutive year making the NAMM Foundation’s “Best Communities for Music Education” list, the BVEF is proud to support this program.

Mr. Allen had this to share regarding SmartMusic:

“The SmartMusic software is designed to be an interactive experience that provides motivation to practice for students of all ability levels. It records the students' playing and provides feedback for them on pitch and rhythm. Through the SmartMusic program, our students have been encouraged to use the excellent practice room facilities that are secured in our buildings' music wings. 

"The students like the challenge of raising their musical score in the program, which is similar to a video game like Guitar Hero. In fact, our middle school students play "Band Hero" often. Through this grant, the expansion of the SmartMusic program has allowed more students an opportunity to use the program and thus save rehearsal time. We are excited to have both the middle school and high school practice rooms set up with this software. I would like to thank the Bay Ed Foundation for the support of this and so many more educational programs.”