Lessons that go beyond the classroom

Fourth grade students at Springtown Elementary School receive lessons in music that extend beyond the classroom, thanks to Orff — an after-school program where students gather every Thursday to refine their musical abilities.

With limited instruments and a desire to enrich her pupils’ daily harmonic education, SES music teacher Sally McPhetrige found a way to do just that.

“When I began teaching at Springtown Elementary over 20 years ago, the music room only had two xylophones and a handful of small instruments,” she said. “I collaborated with Linda Patterson, the former music teacher at Reno Elementary, and we started our very first Orff ensemble,” McPhetrige said.