Once the students completed their performance, it was the parents' turn to take center stage.
At the Eisenhower Intermediate School Spring Orchestra Concert on the evening of May 20, the students delivered a sound performance.
Then they handed their instruments to the audience—namely, their parents who assembled inside the Eisenhower gymnasium.
Lisa Gaudet, Eisenhower’s 5th- and 6th-grade Orchestra Director, conducted the concerts and gave an explanation of this highly popular musical program.
“At Eisenhower, each Grade 5 Orchestra student teaches one parent/guardian to play the main theme from We Will Rock You. This assignment is beneficial for numerous reasons.
The parents, many of whom have never played an instrument, have an opportunity for first-hand experience with a practice regimen,” Ms. Gaudet said.
She further spoke about the positive benefits of this unique system.
“This will often open a window to empathy for the fatigue and drudgery that can be associated with practice time, followed by the shared parent-child pride of success when the musical skill is achieved,” she stated.
Ms. Gaudet concluded.
“Students also benefit from the necessity of re-assessing their own knowledge and expressing it in such a way that it solidifies the command of their own abilities. Students also seem to relish the opportunity to hold their parents' devices and be the ones recording during this performance.”