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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2022
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DailyAstorian
They sing, they da nce
Astoria music teacher creates solution to showcase learning
By PATRICK WEBB
For The Astorian
V
incent Centeno’s problem
required a creative solution.
His Astoria third, fourth
and fi fth grade students were making
splendid music, but COVID precau-
tions meant their families couldn’t go
to Lewis and Clark Elementary School
to hear it.
So the music teacher grabbed a
video camera and created a web-
site where he posts their musical
performances.
There, he has posted videos for
each of the classes. As well as music,
kids are shown performing traditional
square dancing.
“I teach them everything I can
about music,” said Centeno, who is in
his fourth year teaching at Lewis and
Clark. “ Listening to music, performing
music, improvising music. And they
are expected to perform in the end.”
A pre-pandemic syllabus for the
higher elementary grades involved
inviting an in-person audience to
attend winter and spring public pro-
grams, but times have changed.
“Because of COVID, we cannot
allow strangers or families to come
into the building,” he said. “We cannot
turn the cafeteria into an auditorium, so
I had to think of a way that parents can
see what’s happening in music classes.
So every time they completed a piece
of music or completed a project I vid-
eotaped it.”
It began last fall with audio record-
ings of students performing a wel-
come-back song.
Once parental permission slips were
returned for kids’ images to be featured
online, Centeno switched to video.
The website includes photographs of
his students in colorful costumes they
wore to dance.
Some videos feature students
singing the old French song “ Frère
Jacques,” which introduced the age-old
concept of singing “in the round” with
overlapping voices. Before the win-
ter holiday break, students learned and
performed “Deck The Halls” and “Jin-
gle Bells,” as well as a Hanukkah song
and “Feliz Navidad. ”
While mindful of social distancing
protocols, students made unannounced
caroling visits to hallways outside
other classrooms and serenaded staff in
offi ces. “It was very well received,” he
said. “After Christmas break, they were
asking me if they were going to keep
doing caroling.”
One of the more visual activities
in the videos is square dancing. Cen-
teno obtained a recording from Ire-
land to stir interest. “It’s a lost art, ” he
said. Some boys weren’t keen at the
beginning, he laughed. “But in the end
everybody wanted to dance, ” he said.
Learning goes beyond musical
skills. Square dancing and singing
in the round teach concentration, for
example.
Centeno explained to students
the European tradition where peo-
ple reward doorstep carolers with
money to donate to charity. “When the
kids learned about it they made paper
‘money’ and handed it to the other
kids ,” he said.
Principal Nicole Smith has enjoyed
the socially distanced singing and other
musical activities.
She noted how Centeno’s creative
thinking in posting images online
“allowed families a window into what
students are working on in music
class.”
“We are so fortunate to have Vincent
Centeno as our music teacher — and he
continues to fi nd ways to remove barri-
ers so students can showcase what they
are learning in music. His units include
interactive and engaging activities,”
she said.
Centeno was born in t he Philip-
pines and his family emigrated to Chi-
cago when he was 9 . There he attended
Lewis and Clark Elementary School fourth grader Sylvia Blackburn, left, and fi fth grader Sammael Barbosa work with music teacher
Vincent Centeno. The students are learning the ukulele after spending much of last fall singing and learning square dancing.
Lewis and Clark Elementary School fourth graders Hudson
Allen, Paul Schacher and Hunter Green were among students
enjoying music and dance instruction.
DePaul University before moving
West. He then earned a master’s degree
in teaching at Pacifi c University, fol-
lowed by a doctorate in music at the
University of Oregon. He moved to
Astoria in 2016.
He is a private piano teacher through
the Astoria Conservatory of Music and
serves as music director and organist at
Grace Episcopal Church in Astoria. He
also is music director of the Cascadia
Chamber Opera.
His enthusiasm for teaching his
elementary school students is evident
in his voice, heard giving encourage-
ment as well as direction on the video
recordings.
Now into the second half of the
school year, Centeno is teaching his
students to play the ukulele, learning
beginner’s chords from YouTube tuto-
rials. This eff ort likely will feature in
his later videos.
“I am not aiming at perfection,”
Centeno said. “I want them to have fun.
I want them to be exposed to diff erent
types of music.”
For Lewis and Clark Elementary School third graders Emily Miles,
left, and Andrea Sherman, square dancing was an opportunity
to dress up in their old-fashioned fi nery and have some fun.
Music teacher Vincent Centeno demonstrates to his students at Lewis and Clark
Elementary School how to play the ukulele.
‘I TEACH THEM EVERYTHING I CAN ABOUT
MUSIC. LISTENING TO MUSIC, PERFORMING
MUSIC, IMPROVISING MUSIC. AND THEY ARE
EXPECTED TO PERFORM IN THE END.’
Vincent Centeno | music teacher at Lewis and Clark Elementary School