Students Sing Nostalgia Before Teacher Retires

Nostalgia found its way into one of Harriett Alfred’s final music classes at Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School as students sang about fond childhood memories — as well as about the time they’ve spent learning from a cherished, soon-to-retire educator.

Students and teacher alike embraced that nostalgia last Wednesday in Alfred’s music choir course. The class took place just days before Alfred plans to retire, after teaching in New Haven for the past 38 years, in advance of the sunsetting of a teachers union contract healthcare benefit for veteran educators like herself

The class of about 25 juniors and seniors picked nostalgia as the theme for their end-of-year group project. They spent the last month of school selecting their songs and creating their own harmonies to perform for Alfred Wednesday. 

The group first took a few minutes to present their research on the songs they selected. They spoke about the mix of genres, the artists’ musical journeys, and each song’s success over the years. 

The musical mashup assignment resulted in each group of students picking songs they listened to on the radio or in movies while growing up. 

While the students had completed their final concert performance of the year in April, Alfred next assigned them to work on this final project during May to keep the music rolling until the end of the school year.

For this final project, Alfred aimed for her students to learn how to fill in when a team member is out, work collaboratively, make group decisions, and understand what it takes to develop a full group performance. 

Engagement is one of Alfred’s biggest lessons for her students. Throughout the year, she tasks students with keeping her attention by playing a game similar to the singing game show, ​“The Voice.” However, rather than turning around to show the students their performance is engaging, she turns away from them any time their performance begins to lose her interest. 

On Wednesday, using plastic cups as instruments, the first group of students kicked off their performance by singing ​“Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye, which they described as ​“timeless” and a ​“modern 21st century classic.” 

They followed up by singing ​“Dancing In The Dark” by Rihanna, which the students discovered through the animated 2015 children’s movie Home. For the students, the song brought back ​“raw” and ​“heartfelt” emotions from elementary school. 

The group then concluded with ​“Ain’t It Fun” by Paramore.

The students worked through their performances without missing a beat, even when a cup was dropped and a bracelet was accidentally broken. Alfred — who recorded each presentation — applauded the group, and described the performance as high energy and engaging.

The second group began their presentation by defining nostalgia as ​“sentimental longing.” To encapsulate their nostalgic feelings, the group sang ​“Like I’m Gonna Lose You” by Meghan Trainor and John Legend. In their presentation a student said that the members of the group were around 9 or 10 years old when the song came out. Another student said it leaves them with a warm feeling and now makes them reflect on their childhood when they hear it.

Their next song came out when the members were around 11 and 12 years old. They said the song ​“Never Enough” by Loren Allred was introduced to each of them in middle school by the movie The Greatest Showman.

Before the group began performing, Alfred reminded them to ​“speak louder, we got competition next door,” as her second-floor classroom rumbled with the soft sounds of jazz coming from a nearby classroom. 

The group used their phones as flashlight props to shine like twinkling stars while singing the words, ​“All the shine of a thousand spotlights/ All the stars we steal from the night sky/ Will never be enough.”

Holding back tears, Alfred told her students, ​“I was very pleased with what I saw today. You guys make me so proud.” 

After the performances, the students reflected on their school year and experiences with Alfred. They laughed about their nervousness when they first entered the class and did their first roll call — that is, their first performance in front of Alfred to show their singing range. 

When Alfred asked the class what they got from the group mashup project, the students said they got the chance to become closer with their peers, harmonize with new people, step out of their comfort zones, and feel inspired by others’ ideas and strengths. 

One student said the project allowed them ​“a chance to be something more than what you normally are,” meaning if they spent most of the year singing soprano they were able to branch out for the project and sing as an alto or another range. 

A student named Hazel added that the final project and years in Alfred’s class ​“showed us how much music brings us together.” She recalled coming to class some days feeling sad but being uplifted by her classmates and music when in Alfred’s class. 

Another senior, Michael, added that the project prompted the students to be more independent by requiring them rather than Alfred to make all the harmonizing and performance decisions. 

“This just fills me when I come here and see you all apply everything you learned in here,” Alfred said in response. 

Laila, another senior, concluded that the end-of-year project was a fun and positive way to finish out the school year rather than a test or the busywork that typically come with other courses for the last week.

Students told Alfred that they are grateful for her constant lessons of ​“When I do something, I got to do it whole heartedly.”

Alfred thanked the class for bringing energy to her class and putting their all into each performance. ​“I hope that the skills that you learned, that you take beyond Co-op,” she said. 

She went on to share that she is grateful to have worked with them after several of her hardest years of teaching during the Covid pandemic. ​“That didn’t feed me at all,” she said. Nevertheless, ​“I count myself blessed and honored to be able to work with you guys.” 

After Wednesday’s bell dismissed the class, Co-op senior Mikaela Morant did her usual sweeping of Alfred’s classroom floors. She did it because ​“she’s the kind of teacher that cares about students in every way.”

This has taught her to show genuine care for those who care about her, Morant said. 

“We get a lot of teachers that don’t really care for us anymore,” she said. 

One key lesson she’s taken away from Alfred’s teaching is to ​“always speak your mind.” Alfred added, always speak your mind ​“with respect.” 

She repeated after Alfred, who tells her students, ​“We can’t fix nothing if nobody can hear you.” 

When asked why as an educator she prioritized building personal relationships with her students, Alfred said, ​“Because they’re human beings.” 

She said that singing is emotional and can’t be forced if someone is struggling as a human. ​“You have to see that the job included addressing their humanistic needs too, so they actually care about what they’re learning. When you learn about them, you get more back.” 

She added that the arts are what human beings use to cope and connect. Removing it from the school, she said, would be a ​“travesty.”

From pulling students out of their shells to growing their confidence and expanding their musical skills, Alfred concluded Wednesday, ​“I’ve done my job.”