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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2002
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Christmas Day
Kerri Henderson, Topka freshman, demonstrates correct finger placement to Ebony Baxter, eighth grader at Central Junior High School. The music mentorship program is dedicated to helping young people learn about music.
Volunteers tune into kids by sharing love of music
By Vonna Keomanyvong
vkeomanyvong@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
In a small booth on the first floor of Central Junior High School, Kerri Henderson listened to her new mentee, Ebony Baxter, play the clarinet.
Henderson moves Baxter's fingers on the clarinet and she plays a couple of notes.
"It's an improvement," she said.
"Try holding your fingers on the side." Henderson suggested.
Henderson, Topeka freshman, is one of 29 University of Kansas students who are part of Music Mentors, an organization that gives teens voice lessons and teaches them how to play instruments such as violins, clarinets, guitars and the piano 30 minutes a week for free. Volunteers teach students how to read notes and show them fingering techniques for their instruments.
Baxter pressed her fingers on the clarinet and blows.
"Isn't it this key?" Baxter asked.
"I never taught lessons before," said Henderson, who has volunteered for two months. "But it's gotten easier because the students are responsive to what I say."
"The program keeps music going," she said. "It takes mentorship on another level because it keeps them involved in the classroom."
The purpose of Music Mentors is to offer students who can't afford music lessons a chance to get private lessons, Carol Toland, Iola junior and president of Music Mentors, said.
While some mentors are music education majors. Toland and others like her aren't majoring in music, she said. Instead, mentors are skilled in their given instrument. Henderson has been playing the clarinet for 12 years, and Toland has played the piano for 16 years.
Andrew Schurle, Manhattan junior, majors in business administration and marketing and said he started volunteering three years ago because he wanted to teach young people how to play the guitar.
"A friend of mine showed me how to play so I wanted to pass that along," he said.
Schurle continued to teach students because he liked hanging out with the kids, he said.
Sondra Mosley, an orchestra teacher at Central Junior High, 1400 Massachusetts St., said interaction with mentorsbuilt her students' confidence.
If some students were nervous to ask her for help, they were
more willing to ask peers for help, she said.
"When they work with their mentors, I can see them watching me more," Mosley said. "They feel more sure of themselves, and they want to be recognized."
Johannah Cox, the band teacher at Central Junior High, said the confidence students got from the program made them more enthusiastic about lessons.
She also said programs like Music Mentors allowed students to exercise their fine motor skills and muscle coordination. Students were also learning another language, she said.
"Iinstruments is an extension of one's self," Cox said. "When you can express yourself with an instrument, you can express yourself better. It makes a well-rounded student."
To find out more about Music Mentors, log on to www.ku.edu/~mmentors.
Edited by Lauren Beatty
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