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ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — What do fifth-graders at Hosea Elementary School, the St. Joseph Performing Arts Association and an orchestra in New Zealand have in common?
Quite a lot, thanks to an educational opportunity that will put some of the students in front of an audience at the Missouri Theater.
The students at Hosea Elementary in St. Joseph are learning something more unique than the typical recorder, the St. Joseph News-Press reports (http://bit.ly/1hXF7SF ).
Thirty ukuleles were sent to Joshua Lock's music class at Hosea from the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand.
The orchestra reached out to the St. Joseph Performing Arts Association with the idea to send the instruments to kids in the community so they could practice and then play with the orchestra when they perform at the Missouri Theater this winter.
Beth Sharp, director of the Performing Arts Association, said the group loved the idea.
"Then we started to look around for a local teacher," she said. "We asked the school district if they had any music teachers that know the ukulele, and right off they said Joshua Lock at Hosea Elementary and we said ... that's where we're going, then."
Friday was only the students' second day learning the instrument, but already they were learning notes, time signatures and which fingers to use on the fret boards.
"They're really responsive," Lock said. "They're really open to just playing. They're not hesitant. They want to make sound (and) they want to make music, so I enjoy watching them trying to figure it out and then helping each other."
Lock will grade his students on three parameters: attendance, attitude and aptitude. He then will choose the class with the highest rank in December to play with the orchestra.
The students are excited to pick up the ukuleles and learn something new, and so are the people who made it happen.
"It was so exciting to see them playing, to see them interested in the instrument," Sharp said. "It just made me feel like this was the right thing to do."
Lock said the instrument provides a fun learning opportunity for students.
"Just to foster that love of music now so it continues to grow later ... any instrument can do that, but I really think ukulele is such a fun niche instrument that it can help keep them more focused on one musical aspect at a time," Lock said.
The students will join Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra on the stage at Missouri Theater on Feb. 20. Tickets are on sale now.
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Information from: St. Joseph News-Press/St. Joe, Missouri, http://www.newspressnow.com
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