State College Area School District fifth grade students wiggled excitedly in their seats with their instruments as they prepared for their last band practice before the big performance.
The next time they would be playing again wouldn’t be in a classroom; it would be on stage among Penn State music education students as part of the Partners in Music Program.
Celebrating its ninth anniversary, Partners in Music is a program that allows fifth grade band and orchestra students throughout the district to learn from Penn State’s music education professors Robert Gardner and Linda Thornton, as well as play along with Penn State music education students.
“Partners in Music” was started nine years ago when music teacher Roy Schaeffer and Thorton teamed up to create a program that would benefit not only Schaeffer’s fifth grade students but also Thorton’s Penn State music education students.
“This program is very exciting for these students,” Monica Kenney, the strings coordinator from Our Lady of Victory said. “They’re honored because no other students get to do this. It’s very special to them.”
Having his fifth graders play with Penn State students gives them a different teaching experience than most young musicians usually get while interacting with students from all over the district, Schaeffer said. The Penn State students also benefit from the collaboration because they get experience in teaching.
Originally only for fifth-grade music students from Park Hill and Grays Woods elementary schools, the program now includes the entire SCASD district and Our Lady of Victory Catholic School with 196 students this fall. All SCASD music teachers involved in the program are volunteers and last year the program received Penn State’s 2015 award for Community Engagement and Scholarship.
The students have been hard at work practicing every Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. since October to prepare for their big show.
The concert will be held at Park Forest Middle School tonight at 7 p.m.
