Strings Program | September 2018

The Granby Education Foundation is proudly partnering with Granby Public Schools to help establish a long-awaited strings program. With a generous grant of $40,000 from the GEF, the school district was able to purchase a class set of violins, bows, and instructional materials as well as instrument storage and maintenance. The new strings program will be rolled out over several years beginning at Kelly Lane Primary School in the 2018-2019 school year, then moving to Wells Road Intermediate School, and eventually to the middle and high schools. The GEF recognizes the importance of the arts within the community and is happy to support this initiative with a grant of $20,000 this year and another grant of $20,000 next year. As a direct result of the GEF’s $40,000 grant, all Kelly Lane students (K-2) will have violin class for 35 minutes each week with Ms. Roes, a teacher who holds a Master of Music in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy. During this class students listen to orchestral music, warm-up their fingers with special finger exercises, learn and practice how to hold the violin and bow, move to different rhythms played on a violin, and will eventually begin to play the violins. The students are also being taught the importance of respecting and caring for the instrument. All the students are eager to play the violin and it will be quite the exciting and memorable day for the K-2 students when they get to hear that first note played on their violin.