Red Light! Around the room, sixth graders freeze mid-step, striking dramatic surprise-party poses as if the guest of honor has just walked through the door. This is how a Carroll sixth grade improvisation (improv) class gets warmed up. And while it may look like a playful moment, beneath the laughter and creativity students are exercising their brains in powerful ways.

At Carroll’s Middle School, that’s exactly how the performing arts program is designed to work. Music and improv engage multiple cognitive systems at once to strengthen auditory processing, working memory, pattern recognition, and executive functioning skills.

Playing an instrument, reading music, listening to rhythm, and coordinating movement all happen simultaneously, activating multiple regions of the brain at once. As performing arts educator Adam Brooks describes it, making music is “the brain’s equivalent of a full-body workout.”

Neuroscientific studies tell us that making music is one of the most complex activities the brain can perform.

Ben Shepard, Carroll’s Targeted Cognitive Intervention Coordinator, notes that music and language share many of the same neural pathways. Both rely heavily on auditory processing: the brain’s ability to hear, interpret, and organize sound. The same systems students use to distinguish rhythm and pitch are also involved in processing spoken language and reading.

At Carroll, this overlap becomes an opportunity. Students strengthen cognitive skills through musical exploration in ways that feel joyful and accessible. Rhythm activities, for example, help students coordinate movement to a steady beat with action sequences.

As Adam puts it, these opportunities “exercise those foundational skills before they dig into more complicated things like learning an instrument or singing.”
 

Improv brings another layer of cognitive growth. Students must listen closely, react quickly, and build on one another’s ideas in real time. Ben notes that improv can be especially helpful for students navigating social communication challenges by creating a space for safe risk-taking.

Many Carroll students arrive with stories of academic struggle. On stage or in an improv circle, they discover a different experience: experimentation without judgment.

From the first day of class, students learn to expect playful warm-up games and collaborative exercises that reward them for being bold, expressive, and even a little silly. “We play with purpose,” Adam explains, noting that each activity focuses on skills like being present, generating ideas, and listening and reacting to others in the moment.

At Carroll, performing arts classes are part of an intentionally designed learning environment where creativity and cognition grow together. Through music, rhythm, and improv, students strengthen the same skills that support academic learning while also discovering confidence in themselves as capable creators and performers.

As Adam often reminds his students, “A brain at play is a happy brain, and happy brains learn better.” In that case, play on.

Learn more about the Middle School Performing Arts Program

Read the full magazine here: Carroll Connection 2026-2027