Music teacher asks for instruments — and time

CORNWALL — The Cornwall Consolidated School Board of Education is making an effort to get to know the various school departments better. The effort kicked off at the March 15 board meeting with a report from music teacher Alicia Simonetti-Shpur. She reported that 11 Cornwall Consolidated students had been selected for the regional band and chorus, and three students were selected for the Northern Regionals, which accepts “the best musicians in northern Connecticut. Ten were chosen from Region One.”She said she is quite impressed with the students because, in a small school, they take part in a full range of extracurricular activities.“Our kids are unique because they do everything. We don’t have the music kids and the sports kids. They are very well-rounded.”Coming up is a Make a Difference concert on April 6 performed by students in kindergarten through grade four, with funds going to cancer causes and local recycling efforts. The fifth-to-eighth grade chorus and band will perform May 20. They will also participate for the first time in a Music in the Parks event.When asked by board members if she had a wish list, Simonetti-Shpur did not have to think very long before saying, “More instruments,” and “Time.”“We are seeing a lot more need for kids to borrow school instruments. It’s a sign of the times. If we could get donations of instruments people no longer use, or sponsors, that would be great.”As for time, she referred to rehearsals, which happen when the chorus and band meet in class. At Cornwall Consolidated, that’s 40 minutes per week, which Simonetti-Shpur described as “not even close to the average rehearsal time in this part of the state.”

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