Schools are increasingly leaning on project-based learning to help keep students engaged. One New York high school English teacher has taken that concept to the next level by having his students write their own song lyrics.

Elizabeth Day, a ninth-grader at Saugerties Senior High School, and her classmates were tasked with putting words to song, based on a social or personal issue. Day’s group made their topic anxiety, something many teenagers can relate to.

“It felt pretty good because I got to actually talk about what I’ve been through and share my experiences,” Day said.

Her English teacher, James Fetcho, assigned them this particular project. Each portion highlighted different student’s strengths.

“Music, outside of teaching, is my biggest passion, so I tried to create a project around that,” Fetcho said. “Students kind of picked a role and some of them wrote song lyrics, some of them designed artwork, some of them did the research, some of them put everything together in a final product of a website.”

His ultimate goal was to allow the students to express themselves while incorporating New York state standards through evidence-based research and writing.

“Especially as a teacher, to kind of push past the fear of the unknown and letting those students kind of run with the project, with me kind of taking a step back and not having as much control. And then being able to see it all come to fruition at the end, I think, that’s a big lesson,” Fetcho said.

Day said she enjoyed the creative freedom that came with this project.

“This one is way-more fun. I learned more while doing it. I got to meet with a group, but not have all of the work put right on me,” Day explained.

It took about four weeks for the students to complete their assignments. Then, Fetcho, along with some of his other musician friends from around the world, brought the students’ lyrics to life with music.

“I thought it was beautiful,” Day said. “It's nice to have what I’ve been thinking about actually put out into the world.”

She offered a message for anyone dealing with anxiety or facing challenges.

“No matter what, everything is going to be OK,” Day said. “While it might seem difficult, just looking at what it will be, it's really not.”

With this project, the students also put their presentation skills to the test on their big expedition day to share what they learned with their peers.