It is a simple joy to watch a baby play - babbling and interacting with its environment - but for 2025 music education graduate Kayla Kirchenberg, seeing one of her young students repeat a rhythm is magic. 

Kirchenberg was a lead teacher for Music for Young Minds, a Saturday morning program held at University of Delaware with sections for children from birth through age six. 

“It was so cool to see kids interact with music from the very start of their lives and be part of their first musical experiences,” she said of teaching the birth to 18-months class.

Kirchenberg was one of the dozens of UD School of Music students who work with its Community Music School (CMS), which offers private lessons, group classes and summer camps to students of all ages in the Newark area, all while providing UD music students with professional teaching opportunities as they pursue their degrees. 

According to Mary Margaret Wilson, the CMS coordinator for the School of Music, the primary purpose of CMS is to enrich the educational experience for UD music students, but the way it brings the community to campus makes the program truly special.

“If you want to do something with your infant, you can, and if you’re retired and you want to pick up guitar lessons, you can. Music is just joyful. Not to oversimplify it, but it is, and that’s important for people to have in their lives,” she said.

Students as teachers

Music majors learn music theory and pedagogy in their UD classrooms, and as CMS teachers they put theory into practice.

Junior Max Niedziejko, choral/general music education major with a minor in disability studies, joined the CMS staff last year for the Musical Theatre Camp production of The Little Mermaid. He had taught music lessons before, but corralling dozens of kids ages 9 through 18 was totally new.

“The interesting part about it was navigating how to keep the older kids engaged while still making sure the younger kids were entertained and not running off,” he said.

“It taught me a lot about what is universally entertaining and fits multiple age groups, and how to work on the fly when something doesn’t go as planned.” 

Niedziejko also taught Broadway Kids during the academic year, a weekly class designed to introduce students to musical theatre singing, acting and dancing skills. 

Students this spring expressed interest in learning about what happens backstage, like costumes and set design, so the teaching team took it upon themselves to bring those elements into the class. They ended up building the set used in the spring showcase in addition to preparing the performance. 

“There’s something special about informal learning,” Niedziejko said of Broadway Kids. “It’s more like guiding their learning than teaching, and they’re doing the creative part.”

From student to teacher

Newark area resident Tanya Gallagher graduated from UD in 2004 with a degree in music education. She was a CMS teacher as an undergraduate, and now her three children are active in classes and camps. In addition to the quality of instruction, she appreciates the CMS atmosphere.

“The teachers are welcoming to everyone, regardless of their musical background. They help them find ways to flourish,” Gallagher said.