Published: October 10, 2008 11:17 pm         

Educational experience

Nonprofit group visits local schools to share music, stories

After everyone was seated in the gym, Jose Valencia greeted the large group.

“How are you today?” he asked.

“Good!” the Franklin Elementary students responded.

With everyone’s attention, Valencia told the students they would hear the story of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed.

“It may seem like a tall tale, but it’s based on a true story,” he said.

The band started to play its brass instruments as Valencia narrated the story.

Both the band and narrator belong to a nonprofit group known as Book Readers and Horn Blowers. Based out of Flora, the group travels to elementary schools to make presentations filled with reading, history and music.

On Friday, the group made stops at Franklin Elementary and Fairview Elementary in Logansport. Separate sessions were held for kindergarten through second-grade students, and third through fifth-grade students.

“What we do is base our programs off children’s books,” explained Emily Petitt, the programs executive director. “This year it is ‘Johnny Appleseed.’ We have a projector, which has pictures from the book. We narrate it and a brass quintet plays music from his time period.”

In its 11th year, the main goal of Book Readers and Horn Blowers is to tie in history and music education while promoting literacy, said Petitt.

Franklin Elementary teacher Connie Slaughter said she read “Johnny Appleseed” with her students in September and also had a science project with apples.

“They should be able to relate to this very well,” she said.

Slaughter thought the musical instruments added a nice touch.

Fourth-grade student Oddessa Lemons said she enjoyed one part of the presentation more than the rest.

“The horn blowers, because I like to listen to music,” she said.

Even though fourth-grader Efrain Amezquita read the book “Johnny Appleseed” this year and also when he was in the second grade, he said he enjoyed hearing it again.

His favorite part was when Valencia asked the students questions about the story and gave out prizes.

In addition to the reading portion, fifth-grade students were invited to stay and try out two of the brass instruments.

Teacher Steve Klotz said he was glad his student had the opportunity to see how the instruments worked and sounded.

“I like the program, but I like this here,” he said about the instrument experience as he watched his students’ facial expressions.

Fifth-grade student Tiara Benedict especially liked trying out the different instruments.

She also enjoyed answering questions about the book and the demonstrations each band member made with the musical instruments.

Band member Michelle Howard, who has been involved with the group since it started, feels the presentations are beneficial for the children.

“I really feel we have a good impact on the kids who attend the program,” she said. “They get exposure to this wonderful live music.”

Denise Massie can be reached at (574) 732-5151 or via e-mail at denise.massie@pharostribune.com