Lyrics in Schools

Bring joy, belonging, and emotional growth into your classroom—through the power of sharing songs.

Lyrics in Schools is a research-supported professional development program that helps educators teach social-emotional learning and positive psychology through the sharing of songs.

Customizable for grades 1–12, this program uses the natural engagement of songs to teach emotional regulation and identification, build student agency, learn the skill of strength spotting, and foster classroom connection - while supporting educators with the tools and training they need to make it stick.

🎵 Turn Students' Favorite Songs Into Social-Emotional Learning Tools

Music reaches students in ways traditional teaching methods can't. Lyrics in Schools helps educators use songs students already love to build emotional intelligence, classroom community, and wellbeing skills.

This isn't live performance or teaching through song—it's about empowering students to use their music as tools for growth.

Ways to Bring This to Your School

🎓 Professional Development
Train your teachers to integrate song sharing into SEL through in-person or virtual workshops.

🎤 Student Assembly
Interactive presentation where students learn real-time strategies using age-appropriate music.

📚 Ready-to-Use Toolkits
Grade-specific lesson plans and guides for immediate classroom implementation.

🎵 Custom School Song (Add-On)
A personalized song that captures your school's mission and dreams for students.

Book an exploratory call with me to explore which option fits your school best.

Why This Works

Students naturally connect with music. We show them how listening and sharing music —something they already do—can become a powerful tool for emotional understanding, relationship building, and personal growth.

When combined with positive psychology frameworks and SEL best practices, their favorite songs become gateways to essential social-emotional skills.

Rooted in Science, Designed for Joy ❤️

This program blends the latest in positive psychology, SEL best practices, and active listening to music to create safe, expressive, and inclusive spaces where students thrive. Whether it’s recognizing emotions through song, strengthening relationships through song sharing and strength spotting, or building a classroom culture grounded in community—Lyrics in Schools helps teachers turn social emotional learning into a joyful, human experience.

Hi, I’m Tricia Fox Ransom—a singer-songwriter, educator, and facilitator passionate about helping teachers use music and lyrics to build emotionally connected classrooms.

With a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Music from Naropa University, I’ve spent years exploring how music can be a powerful tool for well-being, emotional regulation, and belonging—especially for young learners. My thesis, “Message in the Music: Do Lyrics Influence Well-Being?”, has been downloaded over 200,000 times and continues to inform the way I work with educators and students today.

Through my program Lyrics in Schools, I offer customizable professional development experiences that equip K–12 teachers with tools to integrate music-based social-emotional learning (SEL) into the classroom. These trainings draw from evidence-based positive psychology frameworks like character strengths, the PERMA model, and emotional regulation strategies—delivered in a way that’s joyful, memorable, and practical for everyday classroom use.

Whether I’m leading a hands-on workshop, modeling song-based activities, or supporting educators with curriculum-aligned resources, my goal is to help schools foster connection, creativity, and confidence—one lyric at a time.

Let’s bring music and meaning into your classrooms!

FAQs

  • Lyrics in Schools is a research-supported professional development program that helps K-12 educators teach social-emotional learning through song sharing. This isn't about live performance, singing, or traditional music education—instead, it empowers students to use their existing favorite songs as tools for emotional understanding, relationship building, and personal growth through listening and sharing.

  • Students develop emotional regulation and identification, build student agency, learn strength spotting skills, and foster classroom connection. The program is customizable for all grades 1-12, with age-appropriate adaptations and grade-specific lesson plans available for immediate classroom implementation.

  • No musical background is required. The program provides teachers with all the tools and training they need to successfully integrate song sharing into their SEL instruction, with curriculum-aligned resources that fit into existing classroom routines.

  • Professional Development workshops (in-person or virtual), Student Assembly presentations, Ready-to-Use Toolkits with lesson plans, and an optional Custom School Song add-on. An exploratory call is available to help determine which approach best fits your school's specific needs and goals.

  • The program is rooted in positive psychology frameworks, SEL best practices, and active listening research. It uses evidence-based approaches including character strengths, the PERMA model, and emotional regulation strategies—delivered through music that students naturally connect with, making social-emotional learning joyful rather than just educational.