Shaw students overcome worries, create song in three days with Psalm One

Written by Cielo Contreras

Development Manager, Foundations and Corporations

Write and record a song in three days.

That was the challenge presented to the DC SCORES team at Shaw last week. The team is used to experiencing some crazy things. After all, Tony Hawk visited their school only two weeks before.

Team members were excited to learn they would be working with professional rapper and songwriter Psalm One, thanks to the ASCAP Songwriters Residency @ America SCORES. However, they were not sure how they could possibly write and record an entire song in such a short time.

Three days.

When Psalm One came to their classroom for the first time, she rapped for them and explained the process. Their first task was to choose a beat. She played some options and the team voted on their favorite.

When the beat was chosen, she asked students to write down words to describe how the beat made them feel and words about themselves that made them unique.

The next day, Psalm returned with lyrics she had put together using what the team had written. Now that they knew more about the process, the students were feeling a little more confident. Psalm asked for three volunteers to do solos for the song and worked with them while the rest of the team wrote out “shout outs” that would be part of the song’s “outro.”

The shout outs ranged from the usual (“Shout out to my mom for being there for me!”) to the slightly unusual (“Shout out to Einstein for making math!”) to the silly (“Shout out to my socks!”).

That’s the great thing about writing your own song. You can make it entirely your own.

On Day 3, the song was written and it was time to record. The team rode the bus to Blue House Studios — a professional recording studio! — in Kensington, Maryland. When they arrived, they were greeted by Psalm and a space filled with recording equipment, cameras and a stage. This was real.

The team worked diligently to record the chorus, the solos and the shout outs. If the students were nervous about stepping up to the mic, they barely showed it.

If I didn’t know better, I would have thought they were seasoned professionals.

When they finished recording, Psalm played the completed rough cut for Shaw’s poet-athletes, who couldn’t help but beam with pride at what they had accomplished.

Check out photos and a video from Shaw's ASCAP experience with Psalm One!

Shaw students meet skateboarding hero Tony Hawk

Written by Cory Chimka

Program Director

Ben’s Chili Bowl was buzzing with excitement. Several paparazzi photographers stood outside. At a reserved back table Teddie, Shaw eighth-grader, was explaining the menu to sixth-graders Marina and Gabriela.

“I always get the beef dog with chili,” Teddie said.

Teddie’s been to Ben’s a bunch of times. His principal, Ms. Douglas, takes all the straight-A students to Ben’s Chili Bowl after each report card is issued, and Teddie is always on that list. Ms. Douglas is there today as well, but they aren’t celebrating good grades on report cards.

They were waiting for the day's guest of honor: nine-time X Games gold medalist, Laureus Legend and world famous skateboarder Tony Hawk.

Before long, Hawk arrived, sauntering past the wide-eyed Chili Bowl patrons, straight back to sit with those he considers to be the guests of honor, DC SCORES poet-athletes Teddie, Marina and Gabriela, along with Shaw Middle School @ Garnet-Patterson Principal Douglas.

For the next hour, Ms. Douglas and the students chatted with Hawk over chili dogs, cheese fries and veggie burgers. Hawk, after asking for the waitress’ recommendation, had Ben’s signature dish: the original chili half smoke, a quarter pound half-pork and half-beef smoked sausage, split down the middle, served on a warm steamed bun, topped with mustard and spicy homemade chili sauce.

It was Hawk’s first time at Ben’s, and he commented that he now knows what all the fuss is about. Hawk answered thoughtful questions from the students about his favorite international cities to visit and skate in, how he got started skateboarding, and why he no longer competes.

After lunch, the students proudly led the way down historic U Street, escorting Hawk the two blocks to their school amid a flurry of photographic flashes. Back at Shaw, the entire student body had assembled in the auditorium, hot anticipation in the air. After a few words from Up2Us founder Paul Caccamo and DC SCORES Executive Director Amy Nakamoto, Hawk took the stage to wild applause.

Hawk revealed that his life and career weren’t always a skate through the park. There were people telling him he couldn’t realize his dreams at every turn; even now people tell him weekly he’s too old to skateboard.

He refused to let anyone get in his way. He found something he loved to do, did it every chance he got, and eventually became the best in the world at it! He encouraged the students to find an activity they loved just like he did.

When the floor opened up to questions, the students impressed Hawk with their knowledge of skateboarding styles and tricks, his signature video games, and their guest’s lasting legacy in both arenas.

After the questions, Principal Douglas presented Hawk with his very own Shaw Lightning T-shirt, then Hawk sat at the exit to the auditorium, patiently signing an autograph for every single student. Most excited were the 30 or so students who stood in line with their skateboards under their arms.

They ride to school every day, and head to Shaw Skatepark as soon as DC SCORES practice is over. They could hardly believe they met their hero.