Keys to music

 

Fourth graders at Archbold Elementary School explore a piano keyboard Feb. 20 with the help of Dr. Lucia Unrau, a professor and chair of music at Bluffton University. Archbold students can enter the instrumental music program in fifth grade, so Beth Voll, the district’s director of bands and a Bluffton alumna, invited a Bluffton music contingent to introduce the fourth graders to various instruments at the “petting zoo.” Joining Unrau were Dr. Adam Schattschneider, also a professor of music; Dr. Roy Couch, a visiting assistant professor; Dr. Renee Keller, an adjunct percussion instructor; and 10 student members of Bluffton’s chapter of the Ohio Collegiate Music Education Association. Through their efforts, “80 Archbold fourth graders now think that band is a super cool and exciting option for them to explore next year,” Voll said. “They learned that band is valued and an important part of their schooling and community.”