“I never expected to win a Grammy,” says Wantagh Award-winning singer/songwriter, Marla Lewis. “I just love to write songs that teach, entertain, and sometimes raise a smile. I’m really proud of my work.”
After 25 years of writing songs for adults and children, Marla’s tune, Leap of Faith, became part of a compilation CD called All About Bullies…Big and Small. The CD won a Grammy for Best Children’s Recording.
Leap of Faith is about a timid little girl named Faith who finds her courage. On the playground she sees a bully push a small kid down. Before she can even think about being afraid she stands up and says, “Cut that out!/Leave that kid alone right now!” Everybody in the playground stops, stares the bully down, and cheers Faith. The bully turns and walks away. Everyone is jubilant, and Faith discovers how much inner power she has.
Marla uses many of her songs in her original professional development workshops for teachers. One workshop deals with how music and movement facilitate literacy. Another workshop teaches collaborative songwriting. “I wrote one of my favorite songs, We Love to Read, with a second grade class! The kids were very excited about learning to read. They were amazed at how those ‘squiggles on the page’ became letters. We had a magical time working together!”
“You don’t have to be a musician to do this. You just have to enjoy the music and . . . know how you’re going to use it to teach the lesson.” This is what classroom teachers do best and to this day Marla’s music is sought out by education practitioners around the country to integrate her songs into lessons of their own invention.
To produce professional quality recordings meant finding resources: “Funding in the arts is not easy. I have recorded two albums for kids and they each cost me about $30,000. I used all live musicians; I didn’t skimp on anything, but I didn’t exactly use a New York City studio, either.” With the staunch support of a producer, Bob Stander of Huntington, Marla sold over 3,000 CDs, and won Parent’s Choice Awards for both We All laugh in the Same Language (2005) and I Love to Talk to Plants (2008).
Although retired from public school teaching, Marla continues to pursue her art by producing videos at home and uploading them to her YouTube channel. “The Arts are the most positive aspect of man and womankind . . . if we made a time capsule to show another species in space what we’re about, we’d include our greatest achievements, which are our works of art, scientific discoveries, and speeches made by our greatest leaders. I honestly don’t understand why drama, music, art, and dance are not valued as much as science, math and social studies.” Further, Marla adds, “The arts empower us and give us the ability to make a difference. “
To find out more about Marla Lewis and her music visit her website “We all Laugh in the Same Language!”