WATCH: Music Shapes Students At Fort Hayes (Five-Part Documentary - All Episodes)

This summer, CCS invites you to step inside the world of music education at Fort Hayes. Through a five-part docuseries, with one episode released each week below, hear from students and educators as they share how music shapes them. You can watch all episodes as one full documentary by clicking here.

Episode 1

Ryan Van Bibber is an audio production instructor at Fort Hayes Career Center. His favorite part about teaching is seeing students find their niche through music.

Through the music program at Fort Hayes Career Center, students not only learn about the fundamentals of creating music but they also learn self-expression. Students described the experience as a way to tell their stories through music and described the class as a space to grow and create.

Music is life for Mugisha “Donny” Donatien, and the music program at Fort Hayes Career Center provides an outlet for his own personal expression. Donatien, a Linden-McKinley STEM Academy class of 2022 student, describes his process for creating music and why he loves the program at Fort Hayes.

Episode 2

Devin Hollis, a Fort Hayes Career Center class of 2022 student, found a love for being a producer and engineer through the career center’s music program. Hollis, who won an award of distinction in his senior class, loves using his talents to make artists sound better.

Jeremiah Brown, a Fort Hayes class of 2022 student, enjoys the interactive space the Fort Hayes Career Center’s music program provides and describes how students are able to use their varied music tastes and talents to create their own masterpiece.

Episode 3

Music has always been in Ciera Clark’s family. Clark, a Fort Hayes Career Center class of 2023 student, talks about her love for all types of music.

Episode 4

Human interaction with music is what drives Amani Lyles, a Fort Hayes Career Center class of 2022 student. Lyles describes how the music program at the career center has a chemistry that flows through the classroom, inspiring creativity and teamwork.

Ciera Clark, a Fort Hayes Career Center class of 2023 student, describes her experience with the music program at the career center and what makes the program unique. She performs music around the city through various organizations.

Episode 5

Ryan Van Bibber, an audio production instructor at Fort Hayes Career Center, has been with Columbus City Schools for 19 years and his favorite part about his job is seeing students branch out beyond school projects and apply what they learned in class to their own music. Van Bibber describes what makes the music program at the career center unique.

In the last installment of the Fort Hayes docuseries, students at the Fort Hayes Career Center explain why they love the center’s music program and why others should join. Students can sign up during their sophomore year and can also join if they attend Westerville, Upper Arlington, and Grandview Heights high schools.