District 13 board meeting hits a high note

It was a celebration of music last week in District 13. At the Board of Education meeting on Jan. 25 at Wheeler Avenue School, students demonstrated what they are learning in their music classes.

Wheeler music teacher Greg Hart focused on rhythm, and each grade made a presentation. Children in first-grade used sticks to show how they can keep a beat, while second-graders danced. Third-grade students played their recorders.

The fourth-grade students played a song using boomwhackers, lightweight color-coded percussion tubes. Different boomwhackers are tuned to different notes and pitches. Fifth- and sixth-grades expressed rhythm through singing.

“This is a microcosm of what we do here,” Hart said at the end of the performance.

Board of Education President Frank Chiachiere said that District 13 has always been committed to maintaining a strong music program. He said students learn valuable skills that aren’t reflected in a state test.

Additionally, Howell Road School band director Louis Panacciulli announced that District 13 marching band students will have new uniforms this year. The uniforms are only used when the band marches in the Memorial Day parade. New purple vests with the District 13 logo stitched on the back will replace the old long-sleeve pullovers.

Panacciulli said that the purple vests will be worn over a white shirt, with white pants or shorts. The old uniforms were very cumbersome for students, he noted. “They were very warm to wear,” he said, “especially at the end of May.”

The district will now have 250 vests available, meaning every student in the band will get to wear one. Panacciulli said the district only had 100 of the pullover uniforms.

Because the vests are only worn once each year, district funds were not used. The music department did fundraising for the uniforms and collected $7,000. Donations came from the four school PTAs, the Interschool PTA, the Educational Foundation, principals, teachers, central administrators and parents.

Panacciulli leads the band along with Glenn Guidone, from the James A. Dever School, Cynthia Shannon, from Willow Road, and Mike Soscia, from Wheeler and the district’s music coordinator.