Beating the band-emic: Peru schools recognized for reinventing music education during pandemic

May 5—PERU — Choir and band classes at Peru High School were humming along as usual last spring, with students practicing and performing songs and music for their upcoming concerts.

Then COVID-19 hit and changed everything.

Choir teacher Jason Gornto said that literally overnight he was forced to create an online curriculum for a class that's always been about students performing and practicing together in the same space.

"In the beginning, it was a shock and a challenge," he said. "We teach applied classes, where we're doing things in class, actively, every single day."

Band teacher Emily Rodeck said pivoting to virtual learning didn't just disrupt music classes for the kids. It forced her to redefine the very nature of her job.

"Most of us who teach music are in it because we like to be hands on and help young musicians achieve their playing goals, so it was really difficult having that taken away from us," she said.

But how the two teachers ended up transforming their curriculum to adapt to an unpreceded disruption to their classes helped earned the district a rare recognition from the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation.

Last month, the organization chose Peru Community Schools as one of 17 districts in Indiana in which "dedicated and creative music teachers, supported by a wider community, have succeeded in reinventing music instruction."

Mary Luehrsen, executive director of The NAMM Foundation, said schools and districts have always been challenged to create successful music and arts communities for their students. But the challenge the pandemic created was an entirely new beast.

"Never before has the battle been so hard-fought against silence and a feeling of isolation," she said in a release. "We applaud with all our hearts the commitment of so many to ensure students continue with deep and rich music learning."

Gornto and Rodeck said that when schools first shut down in March, teaching went into crisis mode. They both initially adapted by filling in the curriculum with music theory and history, which could easily be taught online.

But as both got a better grasp of the situation, they started brainstorming ways to reinvent their classes to provide students with a new set of musical skills they might otherwise never have developed.

For his show choir students, Gornto set up a music-production studio inside the school so kids could learn how to use audio and video equipment to record themselves singing, and then edit the performance.

A professional producer then came on board to put all the performances together so it sounded as if the entire choir was singing together.

For concert choir students, instead of getting together and singing, he taught them all American Sign Language to classic holiday songs for their Christmas concert. They also learned and performed hand bells at the show instead of singing.

"I figured if this is in the new normal, what can I do to really engage kids and look at it with fresh eyes?" Gornto said. "What's missing from my curriculum that would allow kids to still do what we need to do, but through a new perspective?"

Rodeck said that for band students, adapting to the pandemic was made easier once warmer weather came around and they could all perform outside. That happened in August during the district's annual band camp.

"We could kind of put our toes in the water and see if we could still play together even if we're distanced," she said. "The discovery was that yes, we could."

Once school started again in the fall, the schools' facility provided enough space for students to perform together, as long as they sat 7- to 8-feet apart and wore their masks anytime they weren't playing.

But for all the music students, despite the restrictions and out-of-the-ordinary curriculum, coming together for any kind of performance has been an emotional experience.

Rodeck said that her band kids lit up with a new kind of energy the first time they played together over the summer.

"It was really exciting, because I could see how much they had missed it," she said. "It was so clear that they had been missing this, and now they had it back in their lives. It was inspiring as we continued to have to tackle all these hurdles."

And now, the recognition from the NAMM Foundation has provided another jolt of inspiration to the district.

Gornto said the honor was especially meaningful considering Peru was one of the smallest school districts to receive the honor. Other programs recognized included schools in cities such as Carmel, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Elkhart and Noblesville.

"It was very needed this year to get that recognition," he said. "We've always prided ourselves on having a very strong music program and a strong fine arts program in general. To see that recognized at the national level was really nice."

Rodeck said that community support for the arts also played a big role in the district receiving the honor.

"We have a great deal of love in this community for what our kids do," she said. "They're always given that boost of support, so it really means a lot to the kids and the teachers and the whole community."

And even though adapting to COVID over the last year has been a monumental challenge for music programs, it didn't come without its rewards.

Gornto said his students liked the new parts of the curriculum so much, such as learning sign language and music production, that he's keeping them around for future students.

"I wouldn't have wished for this, but we absolutely took away some positive changes as we move forward," he said.

Carson Gerber can be reached at 765-854-6739, carson.gerber@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter @carsongerber1.