KTBA Donates 16 Orff xylophones to Middle School Music Program

Mrs. Angela Kadow Parma Community Middle School

PARMA, OH – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated sixteen (16) brand new Orff xylophones to the music program at Parma Community Middle School!

Parma Community Middle is a Constellation School that teaches students of all grade levels from Kindergarten through the 12th grade. The middle school takes on the 7th and 8th graders and boast class sizes of no more than 22 students per classroom. The charter programs are designed to provide parents with greater flexibility to choose where their children learn. They often have more flexibility on what curriculum the students are exposed to, including music programs at varying grade levels.

“My students at our middle school are a part of a network of charter schools called CSchools,” Angela Kadow explains. Angela teaches music at Parma Community Middle. “CSchools serve the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. My students are a diverse group, in both the 7th and 8th grades. They span many cultures and learning preferences. They appreciate hands-on learning. When my students are actively participating in music, they learn what rhythms and melodies look like, sound like and feel like.”

Students that study music at that grade level receive one music lesson per week. When they arrive, their checklist is full, as there is only so much time to completely absorb themselves into the lessons and build upon the lessons from the week before. Therefore, it is imperative to have enough instruments for the classroom so that all student get an opportunity to practice and perform on an instrument during the allotted time period. This increases overall productivity of the individual student as well as the success of the classroom as a whole. Mrs. Kadow documents the weekly progress of the students, but recognizes that adding more instruments to the inventory will boost productivity and further validate the program’s overall success.

“The bigger xylophones from Lyons will allow the students to have experience playing in an ensemble setting, or playing with different instruments,” Angela explains. “Playing in an ensemble teaches musicians to listen to each other and allows the students to experience first-hand what harmonies sound like. The students will play music by numerous famous composers such as Mozart. They will also compose their own music. Students will write original fables and compose musical themes to accompany each of their characters.”

Thanks to the mobility of the instruments and the class sizes, students can be paired up with each other to create different ensembles and therefore encourages camaraderie and socialization among their peers. Additionally, many different ensembles will take shape for various holiday concerts and public performances.

Thanks to the generosity of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation was able to donate these instruments to Mrs. Kadow’s music program. Now, every child will have an opportunity to get hands-on learning time with the instruments and provide a greater and wholesome learning experience from week to week.

Every week, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more! Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage.

If you would like to help us fund next week’s project, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible!

Thank you for keeping music education in schools!

Shawn Hagood for Keeping the Blues Alive