Hayley Reardon Music
Music is the universal language of emotion and Hayley Reardon expresses herself so eloquently through her original compositions. Hayley taps into her talent and gifts to create poignant, heartfelt songs about being a teen. Hayley shares her music and lyrics with PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center in the hopes others will be touched by the message, inspired to take action, and motivated to share in the process of creating a world in which no one feels alone. Hayley's original music and videos can be played in classroom, and are accompanied by classroom discussion questions.
Send a Message to Hayley
Read Hayleys Interview with The Boston Globe
Activities
Middle and high school students can watch the music videos, which are accompanied by activities and discussion questions which are integrated with song lyrics.
Hayley writes, “I think music and art are some of the most powerful ways for us to make sense of our feelings and help us to relate to one and other.
The past two years I’ve worked with PACER by using two of my songs (She’s Falling and Stand Together) and creating classroom toolkits that are related directly to bullying and how to prevent it in a classroom environment. This year, however, our idea was to focus more on creating unity and bringing students together. The goal of these exercises and the heart of the songs that go along with them are to help students better understand one and other and hopefully uncover and embrace each other’s individuality.”
Watch the “Behind the Song” video of Hayley sharing her insights about “Where the Artists Go” and “Tribe”
“Where the Artists Go”
“This song was inspired by an in-class assignment that allowed me to get to know a classmate on a deeper level than I ever had before. The purpose of this exercise is to help us, as students, to better understand each other and learn to embrace and accept the things that make us individuals.”
“Tribe”
“This song was written about me learning for myself that the best things we have to offer to the world are the things that make us different, and then learning to accept and be proud of those things. If we can learn to embrace our own individuality, hopefully we can then learn to seek out and value the individuality of the students around us.”
“Stand Together”
Hayley writes, “Think about the amount of time we spend at home with our families versus in school with our classmates. Whether we like it or not, school is a big part of our lives and we’re all here because we have to be. Growing up is hard for each of us in different ways but would be easier on everyone if we could face our time together as a team. Not a divided or broken team but a team who understands that we all have our own strengths and weaknesses and something to contribute. Ultimately, the only question we need to ask ourselves is what stops us from having each other’s backs and choosing to stand together.”
“She’s Falling” – Original Song Dedicated to Memory of Phoebe Prince
Hayley writes “To me, “She’s Falling” is about not knowing how to help someone who you can see is falling apart.” Although Hayley’s song was written about a girl she knew personally, she, like all of us, was moved by the story of Phoebe Prince, a 15 year old Irish immigrant attending school in Massachusetts, who after months of being subjected to bullying from her peers, committed suicide on January 14, 2010
