Empathy, according to The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California Berkeley, is the “ability to sense other people’s emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling”. Practicing empathy is a skill, just like learning scales or practicing sight reading. We can grow our empathy muscles with practice, but how can students translate that new superpower into compassionate actions? Who can best help our young students become compassionate superheroes? Why, the teachers who hold the key to the magic ingredient: music teachers (of course!). Join me as we learn to take lessons that we are already teaching, and intentionally put empathy and compassion at the forefront. Deliberately guiding, modeling and focusing on this important element of a child’s development through music not only helps students understand themselves as compassionate humans, but also encourages them to explore their own role as global citizens.