EDTalks: The Power of Music and Language in Education

Join us to learn how music and language play a critical role in life-long learning and development.

Reframing Music Education: A Tool for Closing Minnesota’s Opportunity Gaps

Almost every area of the human brain is required to engage in music-making. Student musicians do better in school, have higher attendance, graduation and test rates, and learn key 21st century workplace skills. It’s time to stop treating music education as optional and understand its critical importance in every child’s development, especially those from historically under-resourced communities. Musician, evaluator and educator Sara Zara Zanussi will present research on how integrating music from the beginning of every child’s development can actually rewire neurological pathways, increase student engagement and performance, and help close our education opportunity gaps.

Presenter: Zara Zanussi is founder and former executive director of ComMUSICation, a nonprofit that amplifies young voices in community and cultivates skills for success through equitable access to music, collaboration and opportunity. A musician, evaluator, development practitioner and former educator, Zara studied music, international business, and spanish at Luther College. She was also a Sistema Fellow at the New England Conservatory, holds a master’s degree in comparative international development and education with a minor in program evaluation from the University of Minnesota and received a nonprofit management certificate from Duke University. She is currently a senior consultant at Collectivity, a local cooperative that helps nonprofits maximize their impact.

Exploring the Loss of Language and Identity in Education

Our cultural identity is strongly intertwined with our native language. So what happens when that language gets lost or diminished? High school activist Laichia Vang is a native Hmong speaker who experienced the erasure of her native Hmong language while participating in English Language Learners (ELL) classes. She will explore this common experience that is shared by many students of color and others for whom English is not their first language. She’ll also identify ways that our education systems must support and advocate for multilingual students and families by understanding what is at stake when language is lost.

Presenter: Laichia Vang (she/they) is a senior at Roseville Area High School. Her work as a queer Hmong activist is focused on healing, solidarity, and storytelling with marginalized youth to amplify and encourage community growth and initiatives. She is co-chair of the Equity Alliance Minnesota Youth Executive Board, a facilitator at Becoming Organizers, Becoming Advocates, and an at-large representative for the Minnesota Youth Council. Laichia regularly facilitates and speaks at community events, professional development workshops, statewide conferences and panels to advocate for racial justice, educational equity, mental and sexual health, and LGBTQ rights.

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