Middle School Orchestra Offers Students Multiple Musical Pathways

Every spring, rising sixth graders and middle schoolers in Sherman ISD are invited to explore the different music programs available to them. They might play the drum or trumpet in the band or sing in the choir.

Or they might raise their bows to play in the orchestra, which is entirely unique among Grayson County public schools.

"It’s wonderful to have multiple avenues. Not every kid is built for band or choir,” said April Clinton, the middle school orchestra director. “When they come in to try an instrument, they actually get to hold it and have a hands-on experience.”

Both Piner and Sherman middle schools offer orchestra classes, as does Sherman High School. Like all beginners, new students start with the fundamentals, like how to hold their instrument or where to place their bow. The biggest hurdle is learning to read sheet music.

“The fundamentals are the most important thing about playing any instrument,” Clinton said. “If a student doesn’t have proper fundamentals, then they’re not going to reach their full potential.”

Clinton has help on that front. Both the middle and high school programs have access to the expertise of the local Sherman Symphony Orchestra (SSO), which has called Sherman home for 60 years. Professional musicians host sectionals during class time in the fall and spring and tutor groups based on the instrument they play.

“They share feedback and teach the students techniques that might take me a few days to teach,” Clinton said. “We love having the SSO come in. They inspire our students to further their knowledge of music.”

“Having that kind of support from the beginning sets them up for success, because the most difficult aspect of studying a string instrument at the student level is properly developing the fundamental skills,” said Leslie Whelan, SSO’s education director. “Including a string education program in a school district is essential to a well-rounded program.”

Piner Middle School eighth grader Kushagra Wagle first wanted to play violin in elementary school after he heard a song performed on it. He’s now in his third year of playing in the Piner orchestra.

“I like meeting a lot of new people,” he said. “We also travel and get to play at different places. It’s fun.”  

The middle school orchestra program holds two concerts a year at Sherman Middle School. The first one is in the fall and is the debut concert for the beginning students, but those wide-eyed students are musical maestros come the second concert in the spring.

“They come in with this confused look in their eye and probably think how are they ever going to do this,” Clinton said. “By spring, they have this sense of confidence and could play with their eyes closed.”

Clinton’s more advanced students compete in UIL Concert and Sightreading in January. The entire orchestra travels to Allen and is judged on a prepared performance and a performance of a musical piece they have never seen but can read in front of them.

“It’s a chance for kids to show what they can and hear the opinions of other people besides me,” Clinton said. “By the way, we’ve never gotten anything below an Excellent rating.”

The middle school program continues to grow and flourish, thanks to coordination with the SSO  the high school orchestra director, Michael Moore. Clinton and Moore share teaching strategies and make sure their programs are aligned so that students can flourish in high school.

“He also comes to the middle schools every week to pull students for one-on-one tutoring on things I need them to improve,” Clinton said. “We often ask each other for feedback.”

If a student joins the orchestra in middle school, it will be easier to understand new concepts in the high school program, Moore said. His assistance at the middle schools, which includes not only tutoring but also helping at concerts and applying finger placement tape, also means the students will recognize him when they move onto high school.

“I also love to see the friendships and long-time connections that those same students have made through the years,” Moore said. “Yes, being in orchestra is about working hard and playing music we love, but it’s also about the close-knit connections and friends that we make during that time.”

For Clinton, the moment that sticks with her year after year is the first time students play a full piece of music with different parts of the orchestra coming together.

“Their faces light up,” she said. “For the first few weeks, they’re all playing the same note and rhythm, but when they finally play a piece, you can see the joy.”