Most kids don't come to school for reading or math, so a Lacoochee teacher gives them another reason.
By MICHELE MILLER, Times Staff Writer
Published October 26, 2005
LACOOCHEE - It's 2:30 on a Thursday afternoon, and 11-year-old Jay Grant is full of smiles - a bundle of restrained energy as he enters Scott Leahy's music room at Lacoochee Elementary. Not only does Jay have all his school work done for the day, but now is also the time for the Orff Ensemble's weekly practice.
"It's great," said Jay, still smiling as he and the rest of the ensemble fetched their instruments - wooden xylophones, metalophones and various percussions such as tubanos, congas, djembes, bongos, maracas - and set them up so they would be ready for warmups.
"I'm ready. I'm ready," he said as Leahy instructed them to get in "Position 1" - crossing their arms, mallets in hand - before they can play.
The Orff instruments and the Orff program, named for German composer Carl Orff, are a mainstay in the music programs at some elementary schools in Pasco County. Orff, who died in 1982, co-founded the Guenther School for gymnastics, music and dance in Munich, Germany, and developed a simple way of teaching music to youngsters using percussion instruments.
For instance, the wooden xylophones and metalophones have removal bars, making it easier for children to hit the right notes - although that's never allowed for those who play in the exclusive Orff Ensemble.
Jay is commander of the xylophone, and he's pretty good at it. So good that his teacher said he's going to find some way to work in snare drum lessons for the fifth-grader, who has the potential to play in a marching band when he goes to middle school next year.
It's in classrooms like Leahy's where it all begins for budding musicians like Jay.
Leahy, wearing a blue shirt and a tie covered with snare drums, has a quiet command of the classroom - even when it comes to taming the rowdy sort - which by typical standards isn't all that rowdy. Of course, the reward of being able to play an instrument by behaving "helps a lot."
Indeed, Leahy rarely has to raise his voice, instructing his students with a steady voice - and eye and allotting plenty of compliments when they get it right.
"Sometimes all I have to do is look at them, and they know (to behave)," said Leahy, who was named the 2004-2005 Teacher of the Year at Lacoochee.
Students chosen to play in the Orff Ensemble have to audition, keep their grades up and be outstanding students and citizens, Leahy said.
"But if I have a student who has an inherent love of music and isn't doing so well in school, I'll do what I can for them - get them tutoring so they don't lose out on this," he said.
So Thursday afternoons are something to look forward to, even if they present a challenge.
"Sometimes it's really difficult. But I like the part about playing music, every time you play something new," said Orff Ensemble member Cheyenne Harris, 10, as fellow bongo player Angelica Medrano, 10, showed her how to count her part: "One, two, three, four, rest, rest."
"Every Thursday we come here, and it gets more and more fun," said Kristen Sidgrist, 9, who was wearing a pink and white Lava Girl T-shirt she recently won in a contest as she played the metalophone.
For many kids, special music programs such as this is their motivation to come to school, Leahy said. There are plenty of studies out there that prove that students who are involved in music programs do better in school, test better on the SAT, he said.
Some kids would agree.
"It helps us learn much better in class," said Bridgette Lopez, 10. "We have to, to (be able to) come here to play."
That's a good thing but also presents a problem for those who blossom from that type of motivation even as they struggle in other areas.
Typically, music and arts programs are the first to suffer from budget cuts and when students are failing in academic areas.
In fact, during this school year, Leahy has seen his choral program drop from roughly 80 students to 44 because students failing reading are being pulled to participate in state-mandated Intensive Reading programs.
Leahy offered to conduct the program after school, but that's not possible, he said, because most students can't get transportation home from school.
"It's a shame for those kids who actually need chorus and things like that to get them excited about school," Leahy said. "There's a sense of accomplishment they get when they put on a performance and the audience stands up and applauds that they don't get from anywhere else."
