Singer-songwriter and choreographer, Ciara, paid a visit to a Georgia high school this week. Ciara who is a Riverdale, Georgia native herself, met with students from Paul Duke STEM High School to learn about how they have used technology to create new music. Coding students in the classroom were happy to show her remixes they had created of two of her songs, “SET” and “Melanin”.
Ciara greeted the Gwinnett County high school students and let them know that she was eager to hear what they had produced. Students used their laptops to design the new music. She said that “The cool layer of this is that you can be creative.” Cedriece Allen and her twin sister Kadriece are both in the class and worked on creating remixes. Cedriece admitted, “I was nervous” when Ciera sat next to her to listen to Allen’s interpretation of the “SET”.
The high school aims to encourage students to “think critically, behave safely, and participate responsibly in the digital world”. Students in the class have been learning to use a coding program called Python. They also utilized a free resource program developed by Georgia Tech professors called Ear Sketch. The professors at Tech collaborated with a childhood-to-career program called Amazon future engineer to bring Ciara to the high school. Adding music to coding could result in a more diverse category of students taking interest. There are very few minorities or women working in STEM careers. Programs like these encourage the next generation of producers and song makers to step up and share their creativity no matter their age or gender.
