Shoham Geva is a sophomore at Skyline High School enrolled as a first-year student in the Communication, Media, and Public Policy magnet. She has a strong interest in journalism and is writing this column to showcase the CMPP magnet and other aspects of Skyline. This is her latest column on what she's learning this year.

When you think of Jazzistry, a jazz+history+art interactive musical approach to learning about jazz and the history behind it, a high school audience is probably not part of your mental picture. But hey, highschoolers need fun, interactive learning, too.

Skyline High School 10th graders experienced Jazzistry visited recently, largely due to a generous grant from Target and the Skyline PTSO. Jazzistry is also supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts.

The first step of the Jazzistry interactive process was an “Artist-In-Residence program” — a visit during United States history class by head Jazzistrist and founder, Vincent York. York’s credentials include touring with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and playing with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Aretha Franklin.

As Artist-In-Residence, York started the session by explaining what Jazzistry was and demonstrating the seven woodwind instruments he plays (flute, piccolo, alto sax, tenor sax, soprano sax, oboe and clarinet).

In the hour-long session, he played through the various forms jazz took during its evolution (including a rousing sing along to “When The Saints Go Marching In”), always connecting it back to a musical history "tree" he created (that's where the history part largely comes from).

Two days later, the second step of the Jazzistry interactive process occurred in an assembly for all 10th graders. The full Jazzistry band was there for the performance: George Bennett on drums, Ron English on banjo, guitar, and mandolin, John Dana on bass, Gary Schunk on piano and John Douglas on trumpet.

The band highlighted music forms such as gospel, swing, work songs, and bebop in their hour-long performance, working hard to educate and interact with the audience entertained interacting.

 Occasionally the audience became part of the performance! During the gospel songs, there was a call and response for the audience to sing back; during the swing, the band marched to the very edges of the aisles, and during several songs of all types, Skyline students were brought up to sing, rap, swing dance or play along with the band.

The music was interspersed with explanations of the history of the instruments themselves and how they came to be used in jazz, as well as profiles of pioneering jazz conductors, composers and players (A crowd favorite was Louis Armstrong, once he was revealed to have the nickname “Satchmo”). And the musical history tree returned, popped up at various points in the performance to orient the jazz and art in history.

Overall, Vincent York's Jazzistry was a unique and fun learning experience for Skyline ... proving if nothing else, that you're never too old for a sing-along.