Leotha Stanley: Bringing the power of music to young minds

Mention local jazz, spiritual or rhythm-and-blues music, and Leotha Stanley’s name is rarely far behind.

Stanley, assistant to the director of community relations in the chancellor’s office, founded the University of Wisconsin Student Gospel Choir in 1975 and has acted as music director for five different choirs at Mount Zion Baptist Church for the past 31 years.

In his spare time, he composes songs and has provided musical entertainment and accompaniment for dozens of campus and civic events, such as the recent Dane County and City of Madison Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Observance.

Although he has been an active “artist in residence” for the Madison Metropolitan School District for the past decade, in the past year he has added a new riff to his educational repertoire.

Stanley has blended reading, role modeling, motivation, performance and African American music — all in an effort to benefit third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at Madison’s Randall Elementary School.

Created in 2004 by Andreal Davis, a reading teacher at Madison’s Lincoln Elementary School, the Literacy Nights program was designed around the idea of incorporating children’s music into literacy education.

In 2005, Stanley took the fledgling nine-week program one step further, using his jazz, gospel and rhythm-and-blues-inflected songs, such as “Ready, Set, Read,” “Education is My Brain Power” and “Attitude Adjustment.”

The songs include positive messages about education, literacy and achievement, while also exposing students to forms of African-American music that they may not have experienced or explored on their own. Away from class, students practice the songs at home with their parents.

“I tell students that their brains are hungry, like little sponges,” says Stanley. “We show them that with hard work, they can go to college and see what they become. What they do today is like a road map for the future.”

As a culmination of the program, students participate in a night of performance and celebration.

As part of this spring’s program at Randall Elementary, Stanley plans to engage UW–Madison students, student-athletes and civic leaders from the Rotary Club to volunteer to visit the school, read to classes and answer questions about their lives in the city or on campus.

“I’ve always wanted to find a way to intertwine African-American music and literacy,” says Stanley. “Plus, it’s another way to bring the campus to the community. Right in our own backyard, we have children who don’t cross University Avenue. I want to lower that barrier.”

Stanley says he draws inspiration from his own elementary school experience growing up on Milwaukee’s north side but attending school on the southwest side. Although he had the opportunity to learn about classical composers, he wanted the opportunity to learn many different forms of music.

“I always wondered, ‘Why am I learning about Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann and the like, but not learning anything about the music in my neighborhood?’” he recalls.

In January of 2000, Stanley resigned from his position as a firefighter-paramedic for the Madison Fire Department to pursue his musical career full time. He’s authored two books, “Be A Friend: The History of African American Music Through Words, Pictures and Songs” and “Spread My Wings,” a songbook with nine original songs.

But the Literacy Nights initiative has captured his imagination. When parents and members of the community become involved in schools, the entire community benefits, he says.

“It’s an eye-opening experience” for volunteers, he says, recalling an earlier program at Randall called Bookin’ It With Bucky. “They leave with a good feeling.”

LaMarr Billups, special assistant to Chancellor John Wiley for community relations, says Stanley has a “passion and a gift” for helping children read and sing.

“Literacy is one of the issues that is constantly on the minds of parents, teachers and children,” he says. “Leotha has a unique way of addressing the elements of literacy, including reading, spelling and comprehension. They want to practice, because it’s fun to sing.”

UW–Madison is in the process of soliciting additional grant funding, volunteers, venues and contributions for the program.

To learn more or donate resources to the program, contact Billups at 263-5510 or billups@bascom.wisc.edu.

For students, faculty or staff, or members of the broader community interested in volunteering at Randall, contact Stanley at stanley@wisc.edu.