Welcome to the

VocalEssence Classroom RESOURCE hub

Welcome from the LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT TEAM

Thank you for registering for VocalEssence WITNESS! Enjoy these free resources funded by institutions and individual donors. Scroll down to view a variety of resources created by the VocalEssence Learning and Engagement team staff. We hope you and your students will use and learn from these throughout the school year.

Thank you for being a WITNESS Partner School!

Emma Jirele, Engagement and Communications Manager
Robert Graham, Learning and Engagement Manager | Conductor, VocalEssence Vintage Voices Program
G. Phillip Shoultz, III, Associate Artistic Director

Meet our Teaching Artists-click on their photo to read their bio!

2025-2026 Resources

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Teachers and Teaching Artists will use these questions and information to guide their conversation during the pre-workshop planning meeting. At the end of the meeting, be sure to complete and sign the "Planning Meeting Checklist" and return that to Rob Graham via email.
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After using the Planning Meeting Guide to help guide your conversation and planning process, please complete this checklist by placing a checkmark by each category discussed, and then the Teaching Artist and Primary Contact teacher are to sign and date the checklist form. Please return to Rob Graham via email.
This guide provides step-by-step instructions for implementing the WITNESS lessons. It includes learning goals, materials, and suggestions for adapting lessons to physical or digital classrooms.
Meet our three trailblazers: Dr. Reatha Clark King, Dr. Josie Johnson, and Rose McGee, Minnesota leaders who have dedicated their lives to education, justice, and community healing. From Reatha’s groundbreaking work as a chemist and university president, to Josie’s decades of civil rights activism and advocacy, to Rose’s “baketivism” and storytelling that bring people together, these women exemplify the power of wisdom, courage, and creativity in driving change.
A chemist, business leader, and philanthropist, Dr. Clark King has broken barriers in science and industry while championing education and community service.
A civil rights trailblazer and policy leader, Dr. Johnson has dedicated her life to advancing justice, equity, and civic engagement in Minnesota and beyond.
Founder of the Sweet Potato Comfort Pie initiative, Rose McGee uses the power of food, story, and community to nurture hope and healing in times of need.
Students create a visual and textural portrait of Dr. Reatha Clark King, using words, images, and symbols to capture her identity, challenges, and impact on social justice.
Students create a visual and textural portrait of Dr. Josie Johnson, using words, images, and symbols to capture her identity, challenges, and impact on social justice.
Students create a visual and textural portrait of Rose McGee, using words, images, and symbols to capture her identity, challenges, and impact on social justice.
Create a personal portrait where students examine their own "Eyes On The Prize," reflecting on their goals, values, and aspirations in the fight for equality.
Students collectively build a display representing each trailblazer's legacy, adding words, phrases, or images to a physical or digital space (e.g., Padlet, Jamboard, Mentimeter). A gallery walk helps students notice patterns, themes, and connections across the trailblazers' lives.
Students imagine Dr. Reatha Clark King hosting a conversation, using the worksheet to consider who she might invite to the table and why. Responses encourage dialogue, reflection, and connection between historical legacies and contemporary social justice issues.
Students imagine Dr. Josie Johnson hosting a conversation, using the worksheet to consider who she might invite to the table and why. Responses encourage dialogue, reflection, and connection between historical legacies and contemporary social justice issues.
Students imagine Rose McGee hosting a conversation, using the worksheet to consider who she might invite to the table and why. Responses encourage dialogue, reflection, and connection between historical legacies and contemporary social justice issues.
The VocalEssence WITNESS lessons may be extended through creative projects, research, and reflection activities that help students connect historical themes to their own experiences.
Lesson Coming Soon: This lesson takes a deeper look at the freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement, exploring their history, meaning, and the powerful role they play in uniting people in the fight for justice.
(To be completed the week before the YPC)
Students will discover the do's and don't of concert etiquette, getting ready to enjoy the show while being the best audience they can be!
Lesson Coming Soon: Reflect on the "Eyes On The Prize II" concert by identifying key takeaways, emotions, and insights about the connections between the Civil Rights Movement and current social justice efforts.
In this video, author Rose McGee reads her book aloud—a story inspired by her work with Sweet Potato Comfort Pie. Follow twins Marie and Landon as they discover that their grandmother’s famous pies aren’t magical because of fairy dust, but because of the kindness, care, and community she pours into every batch. It’s a cinnamon-scented reminder that real comfort comes from generosity and love.
Somebody's Hurting My Brother:
This modern freedom song draws on the call-and-response tradition of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s been used in protests, marches, and community gatherings to name injustice directly and to remind people that harm to one person affects us all. Its strength is in its simplicity—students can learn it quickly, and it opens the door to meaningful conversations about solidarity, accountability, and collective action.
I’m Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table:
Sung and passed down by Civil Rights activists, this freedom song is rooted in the spiritual tradition and became a steady presence in mass meetings, marches, and jailhouse singing during the movement. Its refrain speaks to dignity, belonging, and the determination to claim a seat at a table long denied.
Wake Up Everybody: John Legend, Roots
John Legend and The Roots revived this 1975 anthem—originally by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes—to connect past and present struggles for justice. Their version keeps the soul and urgency of the original while speaking directly to issues in education, community leadership, and civic responsibility. It’s a powerful example of how protest music evolves across generations while carrying the same call: wake up, pay attention, and take action.
Hope In The Struggle: The Josie Johnson Story:
A reflection on the life of freedom fighter and civic leader Dr. Josie Johnson, who fought for fair housing, education, and civil rights. Hear in her own words how her experiences turned her to activism, what action looks like, and how the next generation is taking up the mantle. The struggle for justice and equality continues, but there is hope in the struggle. (56 min)
Leading Women: Reatha Clark King:
Reatha Clark King shares her inspiring story, from her youth in the rural South to an extraordinary career that included being a research chemist, president of Metropolitan State University, a business leader and president of the General Mills Foundation. It is a story that will inspire the next generation of young women as they prepare to become leading women in their own right. (26 min)
Rose McGee: Celebrating 10 Years of Community Impact:
Sweet Potato Comfort Pie is a community-building organization that uses food traditions, the arts and other creative forms of culture-sharing to spark human connection, healing and change. (6 min)

2025 Trailblazer Sheet Music and Video Links

Learn the Freedom Song, "We Shall Overcome", which is our overarching WITNESS theme song.
Sing along with our teaching artists on our Freedom Song, "We Shall Overcome".
Learn the Freedom Song, "We Shall Not Be Moved", which goes with our Trailblazer, Claudette Colvin.
Sing along with our teaching artists on our Freedom Song, "We Shall Not Be Moved".
Learn the Freedom Song, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round", which goes with our Trailblazer, Ruby Bridges.
Sing along with our teaching artists on our Freedom Song, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round".
Learn the Freedom Song, "Eyes on the Prize", which goes with our youngest Trailblazer, Mari Copeny.
Sing along with our teaching artists on our Freedom Song, "Eyes On The Prize".