The Kids Are Alive With the Sound of Music

They did the limbo, the funky chicken and even caught the disco beat to a rendition of “Saturday Night Fever” as students at Meadows Elementary School in Thousand Oaks danced their way through Music Exploration Day.

Professional musicians and volunteers set up in several classrooms as students rotated among the workshops Friday morning, learning about woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion instruments and even recorded music.

“The disc jockey was the best,” said 12-year-old Noah Altman, referring to Mark Ray, who kept the students laughing and moving during their session with him. Ray, a professional DJ whose son, Stefan, is a Meadows fourth-grader, was the top pick for Courtney McGoldrick as well. “He talks in all different voices like a goofy, wild weirdo,” the 11-year-old said. “It helps teach us about music and how different people like different kinds of stuff.”

Later, he had the students identify theme songs and musicians.

After a few notes of “Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees,” Brittany Smith, 10, raised her hand. “The Beatles!” she shouted.

In another classroom, Don Grady, the former actor who played Robbie on “My Three Sons” and is now a musician and songwriter, asked the students to help him compose a song. “We’ve got to come up with rhymes,” he told the class, holding notes filled with students’ ideas.

“Aaron likes math,” he said, pacing the front of the room while the children called out rhymes. Finally, they came up with “bath.”

“Aaron likes math, but he doesn’t like a bath,” Grady said.

The Exploration Day, sponsored by the school’s Parent/Teacher/Student Assn., is held every few years to acquaint students with music in its many forms, said parent Judy Gindi.

“It’s great for the students who don’t get exposed to music at home,” she said. “And it shows them a different career option as well.”