Notes of surprise
Charity gives Lodi school band new instruments
LODI — On Thursday, students in the Lodi Middle School Modern Band class thought they were simply performing a small concert for their fellow classmates to end the school day.
Eleven members of the 15student class performed Al Green’s “You Ought to be With Me” and Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy,” on the stage inside the school’s gymnasium before Tony Sauza, regional program director for the nonprofit organization Little Kids Rock, opened the curtains behind them to unveil brand new instruments.
The organization provides instruments and music education to more than 500,000 students across the country, and on Thursday, brought guitars, keyboards and drums to Lodi Middle
School.
“We are excited and honored to receive these instruments for our newly established Modern Band Class at Lodi Middle,” music instructor Virginia Stephens said. “We started using some Modern Band concepts last year in our band and orchestra classes. This year, we added a separate Modern Band class, and continue to experiment with Modern Band instruments in the traditional band and orchestra classes. We look forward to including more (of our) students in the music making process with the addition of these instruments.”
Once the stage curtains were drawn back, the modern band students turned around and gasped when they saw the brand new,
still-in-box gear waiting to be opened.
“I was relieved because we need some new things, and we need more stuff to keep on playing,” seventh-grader Yeslene Varela said. “Hopefully we get more students to play so we can all play together and have a good time.”
Varela said the class for months had been asking their teacher, music instructor Virginia Stephens, how they could help her raise funds to purchase more instruments and expand the classroom.
She said most of the instruments the class played on Thursday were relatively new. However, the amplifiers were somewhat old.
The existing gear won’t be replaced, she said, as the instruments the band received Thursday will hopefully attract more students to the class.
“I was so shocked because I didn’t think we’d get more instruments that I’ve been dreaming of getting,” Victoria EliasVarela said. “Now that I know there are more instruments, I can practice on all of them and learn new things, and I’ll probably get better than I already am.”
Principal Cassandra Iwayima said the modern band class started last year, and she and Stephens had been keeping the new instruments under wraps for some time.
“All the kids up here began playing their instruments this year,” she said. “I was at the first session at the beginning of the school year, and at that time, they didn’t know how to play. To see them progress to today, where they’re able to play two whole songs, it’s just amazing.”
Sauza said Little Kids Rock offers teachers all over the country the opportunity to attend workshops where they learn drum sets, keyboards and guitars, and make those instruments work in the classroom.
Once a teacher completes a workshop, he said the organization typically provides $5,000 worth of instruments and other supplies, including guitar bags, amplifiers and microphones.
“I think it’s really important to keep musical training in schools,” he said. “Children need music, and we need to invest in programs that will enrich their lives, teach harmony and bring them together.”
The instruments were delivered to the school by Niagara Cares, the philanthropic arm of Niagara Bottling.
“We’re grateful for our partnership with Little Kids Rock, which allows us to support and sustain music education in public schools,” Niagara Cares director Kristen Venick said in a media statement. “Our employees look forward to volunteer opportunities like these where they can make an impact in their community. We’re happy to help and to contribute where we can.”