ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 27, 1996 TAG: 9605300012
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-3 EDITION: HOLIDAY
It's not unusual to hear music echoing through the halls of Glenvar Elementary School in Roanoke County. It's a good bet the music is coming from Mendy Harman's sixth-grade classroom.
Harman is not a music teacher, but that doesn't stop her from encouraging her pupils to express themselves through music.
"In Mrs. Harman's class, we never go a day without doing something fun," said her nominators. "For Black History Month, we sang Motown music and we still sing it now. During the citrus fruit contest, we wrote and sang our own song."
Harman said she always tries to incorporate music into her teaching, many times by singing with her pupils and playing her guitar or keyboard.
"Music is a fun way to learn," she said. "It's a different way for them to process information."
During a unit on health and safety, Harman was surprised to learn that only four of her 22 pupils used bike helmets. She urged her class to come up with a way to purchase their own. The children sponsored a social at the school for fifth- and sixth-graders, solicited donations from the community and raised enough money not only to outfit the pupils in their class, but every fifth- and sixth-grader in the school.
Harman, a sixth-grade teacher for 21 years, will continue to teach sixth-graders, but will move to the new Glenvar Middle School in the fall. "It will be a big change," she said.
The mother of a 13-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, Harman enjoys music, gardening and refinishing antiques.
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Mendy Harman\Sixth grade, Glenvar Elementaryby CNB