The Voice of the Key Peninsula

Vaughn Elementary School’s gym was filled with students, siblings, staff and parents during the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day assembly. Vaughn’s music teacher Mary Farr, Cultural Enrichment Specialist Ernie Donehower, and PE instructor Marc Ross with the cooperation of the school staff and enthusiastic students planned the day’s event.
Music filled the auditorium as first-graders sang “Kumbaya,” and fifth-graders sang “This Train.” 
Students put together a skit called “Freedom Train, memories of the Civil Rights Movement in America,” to honor not only Dr. King but to serve as a history lesson on other important Americans. Fourth and fifth-grade students spoke the words of special “passengers,” Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglas, and Rosa Parks as well as Dr. King. 
“It brought me chills hearing all of the students singing together and seeing the kindergartners’ really serious faces like they were experiencing something powerful,” said Farr.
Thanks to a Peninsula Schools Education Foundation grant, Farr now has 33 ukuleles to expand students’ knowledge of the fundamentals of music. Eleven proud musicians in Vaughn’s newly formed “Ukulele Club” played “When the Saints Go Marching In,” accompanied other performers, and played their own musical selections. The club was formed after students learned ukulele skills at the beginning of the school year. It meets on Wednesdays during the lunch recess break to acquire further skills or just to “jam” and share new songs they’ve discovered. 
“Several students have acquired their own instruments!” said Farr.
Watching and listening to a larger than life video clip of Dr. King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech, the student body audience was such that, “You could have heard a pin drop!” said teacher Farr.
After closing remarks by Vaughn principal Susan O’Leary, the entire student body sang “We Shall Overcome” led by teacher Farr and a trio of fifth-graders. Almost everyone in the audience sang along.  
“A very moving experience,” a parent was heard to say.
Later, music teacher Farr explained, “The ukulele is a natural fit for young children with its bright, happy tonal pallet. Chord positions are the same as partial positions of chords associated with guitar. Ukuleles are portable, affordable instruments sparking student interest to play other string instruments like the mandolin, dulcimer, banjo, violin, and guitar.”
This school year some 60 fifth-graders experienced ukulele instruction. Each had a numbered ukulele assigned to them to care for. This spring two fourth grade classes will receive instruction as part of their general music class.  
“With proper care,” said Farr, “the instruments will last many years with hundreds of students playing them. “I am extremely grateful for (PSEF’s) support in launching this program.” 

This is not the first time PSEF has gifted Vaughn’s music program said Farr. Her initial grant was to build the Orff Instrumentarium, xylophones, glockenspiels, and met allophones. In another grant, she got soprano recorder materials and in yet another, music manipulatives and games for hands-on learning of music concepts. 
“At a time when public schools face budget constraints,” said Farr, “(PSEF’s) vision has supported access to music education for all children.”