Students at Montello Elementary School in Lewiston learn to read music Nov. 12, 2024. The school is raising money to buy new instruments to keep up with growing interest in band, strings and chorus. Submitted photo

LEWISTON — When Montello Elementary School teacher Karissa Nelsen first had Layla Bernard in her kindergarten music class, the 5-year-old was “painfully shy,” Nelsen said. Just asking the child to sing in front of people would make her so anxious that she would shake with anxiety.

However, as Layla passed through each elementary grade, Nelsen watched her student come out of her shell in music class. Now as a sixth grader, she is a member of band and chorus, and mentors others in the clubs.

“She lights up in music spaces and has grown in confidence, even in spaces that are outside of music,” Nelsen said. “… It’s been really beautiful and astonishing to watch her come from a place of such fear to a place of such confidence and comfort in music spaces.”

It demonstrates the power of music education, Nelsen said, and it’s something every student should get a chance to experience.

This year, no students were turned away from Montello’s music opportunities, including band and chorus, as well as a districtwide string class that meets once per week at the school, Nelsen said.

Now, the school is taking part in a fundraising program to help ensure that students next year won’t be turned away either.

Montello was selected to be part of Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation Adopt a School program, which helps qualifying schools nationally raise funds for musical instruments by connecting them with donors who want to support music education in specific communities, according to the organization’s website.

Lewiston School Department band teacher Zach Lampron guides Montello Elementary School students Dec. 19, 2024, during a practice at the school. Submitted photo

With the help of Montello school Principal Tiffany Sax, band instructor Zach Lampron and strings program coordinator Greg Boardman, staff gathered necessary data to enroll in the program. Through its fundraising page, the school is trying to raise $16,500 to buy Orff percussion instruments, a group that includes xylophones, and buy more instruments for its band club.

The school does not have any quality Orff instruments; the glockenspiels the school’s music department has are poor quality and are not typically used in the classroom, Nelsen said. Giving students the higher quality percussion instruments would allow them to harmonize with each other rather than just play in unison.

Most students are listening to music on their phones or other electronic devices, which tend to have poorer sound quality, she said. Giving them access to instruments that will expose them to a higher quality sound deepens their connection to music.

“They know when they’re using something that has rich sound,” Nelsen said. “It brings them in, it helps them feel more engaged.”

Montello Elementary School students practice on string instruments Nov. 12, 2024, at the school in Lewiston. Submitted photo

The funds will also be used to buy new band instruments as well, she said. Though no students were turned away from the club this year, it is full and there might not be enough instruments for students who want to join next year, even as some students move on to middle school.

A lesser known benefit to music education is its reinforcement of math and literacy skills taught in the classroom, Nelsen said. Reading music helps build the left-to-right reading skills, and measuring beats and other aspects of music helps exercise math skills. People tend to use both their creative and logical sides of the brain when playing music, the teacher said.

Lampron said he has always seen an interest in band among Montello students, but the school has had few instruments to share in the past and not all families could afford to buy one.

“Affording their own instrument was difficult for so many of our families and when we shared how many instruments we now had to loan out, kids pounced on the opportunity,” he said.

Nelsen said she hopes that if the school can fulfill its fundraising goal it can meet the growing interest in band and music education in the school.

“We’ve had years in the past where only 10 students have signed up for band,” she said. “We’re growing exponentially right now and are doing all we can to support that growth.”