The Cantaloupe Jingle
Fourth graders at Carlton Innovation School in Salem, MA write a jingle about cantaloupe.
Earlier this spring Ilene Altman, an elementary school music teacher from Salem, MA, reached out to the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board. As part of her curriculum, fourth and fifth graders at Carlton Innovation School completed a unit on jingles — you know those short catchy tunes that get stuck in your head designed to sell common household products, drinks and food. Altman assigned students to write lyrics and compose their own jingle. Two students, Izzy and Marcella, wrote their jingle about cantaloupe! We may be biased, but juicy, bright and delicious cantaloupe seems like the perfect subject for a jingle. Altman claims their choice may have also had something to do with the teacher’s love of cantaloupe. We were so intrigued by Altman’s initial email, we wanted to learn more about Izzy and Marcella and why they chose to write about cantaloupe. So we set up a bicoastal phone interview with the fourth graders.
Interview with Marcella, Izzy & California Cantaloupe Advisory Board
Q: What inspired you to choose cantaloupe for your jingle?
A: Izzy: “it’s my favorite fruit”
Marcella: “the reason I was excited to sing with Izzy was that I’ve always loved to sing and I’ve always loved fruit.”
Q: How long did it take to write your jingle?
A. It took five minutes to write.
The practicing, performing and recording part took a few weeks due to background noise (3 weeks — music class once a week)
Q: In the jingle, you sing that “cantaloupe gives you hope,” can you explain how you came up with that lyric?
A. Izzy: “…”
Marcella: “cantaloupe makes [Izzy] happy” (Izzy is shy)
Q: Do you like cantaloupe?
A. Yes!
Q: What do you think would taste good with cantaloupe?
A. Strawberries
Star fruit
Q: We heard you are able to earn stickers for trying different fresh fruits and vegetables at your school. What is the most delicious or interesting fruit you have earned a sticker for trying?
A. Asian pear (on the outside it looked brown, tasted like a “normal pear”)
Blood oranges
Q: Have you earned a sticker for trying cantaloupe?
A. Ms. Altman handed out cantaloupe once (Music teacher hosts Fresh Fruit Fridays)
Q: If you could ask a cantaloupe farmer one question, what would it be?
A. Can you give me a lifetime supply of cantaloupe?
Do you like working on a farm?
Do you have any animals on your farm?
What is your favorite part about working on a farm?
To answer the girls’ questions, we followed up with Garrett Patricio of Westside Produce. See his responses below!
Farmer Response:
1. Do you like working on a farm? Yes, I love working on a farm. There are different things that need to be done every day, so I’m typically not doing the same thing two days in a row.
2. Do you have any animals on your farm? No, we don’t keep animals near our melon ranches because they can be a food safety hazard, but growing up we had sheep and pigs on a ranch nearby owned by my aunt.
3. What is your favorite part about working on a farm? Being able to balance my time between an office, truck and out in the field is a nice change of pace. When my phone is ringing off the hook or my eyes are tired from staring at a computer screen, I can get out, walk the fields, see fruit and interact with our field employees.
The unit on jingles ended on a sweet note. Legend Produce graciously sent a case of California cantaloupes to the fourth grade class. The students’ hard work paid off and they enjoyed the fruits of their labor!
