they represent artists like carolyn blackwell, who she herself has spent time teaching tin. >> i made them realize how opera was already in their lives. so i said to them, bugs bunny cartoons, i said, you hear ♪ figero, figero, figer you hear that, right? they would say, yes, they understood that. ♪ row, row, row your boat gently down the stream ♪ >> in the classroom the children learn to tell a story with music and lots of drama. >> this is opera so it has to be something epic. they're escaping from the police. >> they write their own storyline. >> the class may be all about opera, but the lessons apply to other subjects as well. a four-year study by the metropolitan opera gild found that students who participated in the program did better in matthew, science and english than those who didn't. and at a time when many schools are focused on improving test scores, students say the class is a fun compliment to their lesson plan. >> to be able to tell a story and to put in all the parts of the story. we do a lot of work with it in reading and writing, but it's nice to have them see