Editor’s Note: This story is part of our series “Helping Hands”, which aims to spotlight Johnson Countians doing good in the background of their community. If you have an idea for someone to spotlight in a future “Helping Hands” story, email us at stories@johnsoncountypost.com.
For as long as she can remember, music has been central to Mabel Craig’s life.
At a young age, Craig gravitated toward playing and singing music — trading a toy piano for her first real piano at 4 years old, and joining her church’s choir in elementary school.
Now a junior at Blue Valley High, Craig has composed her own music for years, and she continues to sings in her choir at school. But she still remembers what it was like to sing with her classmates in her earliest years.
It was this memory that helped bring a new idea to life for Craig — why not help create that experience for other students?
“Music is so expensive to pay for and get all of the copies for, and so hard to get,” she said. “I thought, ‘What if I could provide that kind of thing for them, completely free?’”
This spring, students across elementary schools in the Blue Valley School District will be singing Craig’s original song, “When You’ve Got Me.” Craig said the song aims to promote unity and kindness.
Craig began teaching her new song this month
Craig’s song, “When You’ve Got Me”, is geared toward children’s choirs.
Throughout the spring, she is visiting multiple fifth-grade music classes across Blue Valley elementary schools to teach the song.
“I kind of centered the whole song around the theme of, ‘You’re not alone, that you have other people there for you, and there’s love in your life,’” she said.
It’s a message that Craig said feels like something that could resonate with elementary-aged students — especially as they prepare to head into middle school, which brings its own challenges.
“I just wanted to have that message in their heads when they move on to different things in their lives,” she said.
Craig uses music to help another age group too
The project Craig is currently working on isn’t her first time using music for good, either.
With the help of her friend, Joslyn Selser, Craig launched Music Making Memories — an effort to help bring music to people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Craig and Selser visit memory care facilities across the Kansas City metro area, performing a setlist each time of throwback pop, rock and show tunes that might resonate with the residents who live there.
Since some research has shown that music is one of the things that remains in our memories the longest, Craig said, a simple song can go a long way for those who don’t remember as much as they used to.
“To sing a song that reminds them of their childhood when they don’t have many other memories left is just so beneficial,” she said. “It’s so heartwarming, because on some occasions, I’ve had some people not even know their kids’ names or where they are, but at the end, they’ll tell me a memory of when they heard that song that I just sang. It’s so rewarding to make that kind of impact on people.”
Watching music resonate with the people who she visits feels bittersweet, Craig said — heavy in a way, but also incredibly rewarding.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m there for 15 minutes or two hours,” she said. “As long as they get that music, they’re having a great time.”
“When You’ve Got Me” marks a new milestone for Craig
Though she has composed music for years, the new song she’ll be teaching this month is Craig’s first she has ever written for a choir.
In the classroom, she has received the type of music theory training used to compose songs for a choir — but this will be her first chance to put that training into action.
“I’m just excited about the whole experience,” she said. “I have all the technique, so I’m really excited to be able to actually implement it into something.”
Whether teaching music is something she wants to take with her once she graduates next spring, though, time will tell. But regardless of if she is teaching it or composing it, Craig said, she knows music has a place in her future.
After all, music has always been a home away from home for her, and she knows she’s not the only one. No matter what other challenges that somebody faces outside of the choir room at school — or later on, in their old age — a song will always be there for them.
“I think music is a home to a lot of people,” she said. “I think it’s really important to spread music to everyone I can, because it’s just been such a great experience in my life.”
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