Students at Jamestown Public Schools are able to begin playing an instrument starting in fifth grade. Pictured here are students in the Washington Middle School “Lobo” band under the direction of Gina Wakefield.

Each Jamestown Public Schools middle school instrumental teacher was drawn to an instrument in a different way.

For Marc Lentsch, it was wanting to play like Louis Armstrong. For Katie Derrenbacher, it was meeting a violinist at a concert at Letchworth State Park. Sai Ceng used piano to build friendships. Gina Wakefield was inspired by a Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra performance at the Reg Lenna. Dr. Carrie Pawelski first picked up the trombone in the very halls she now teaches in.

Despite these different paths, every JPS middle school instrumental teacher shares a singular drive: helping students fall in love with music the way that they did.

“It was something that was really challenging, it was something really fun, and it was something that made me enjoy being part of the group and making music together,” said Pawelski.

“When I played the instrument for the first time, I felt something stirring in my soul,” said Ceng, the orchestra director at Jefferson and Washington middle schools. “I knew I wanted to help others experience that.”

Students at Jamestown Public Schools are able to begin playing an instrument starting in fifth grade. Pictured are students in the Jefferson Middle School orchestra under the direction of Sai Ceng.

For more than a century, Jamestown Public Schools has built a premier instrumental music program — one that crescendos at Jamestown High School, but begins much earlier.

“When you’re talking about building these programs, you’re always starting with the base and for instrumental music at Jamestown Public Schools, that’s in that formative recruiting experience in fourth grade and starting that instrument in fifth grade,” said Derrenbacher, the orchestra director at Persell and Jamestown High School.

Building on the foundational appreciation of music fostered in elementary school, fourth graders from across the district gather together — this year at Washington Middle School — in March for a special recruitment day.

This event marks a unique milestone, as it is the only time the entire cohort of future graduates will be together in one place until they officially enter the high school as freshmen.

During the assembly, students are introduced to every available instrument and invited to list those they are most interested in playing. A few weeks later, they receive hands-on time to test their choices before officially enrolling in a beginner band or orchestra that September.

To ensure the program remains accessible to everyone, the district maintains a diverse inventory of instruments that students may use at no cost to their families.

In middle school, students receive weekly lessons during the school day in their instrument in fifth grade and meet as a “beginning ensemble,” before joining the full ensemble, which rehearses at the beginning of the school day, in 6th grade. At that point, they take the stage for two concerts a year and band members have the chance to perform in the city’s annual Memorial Day Parade.

“It’s something the kids enjoy, but also something important for our community,” noted Lentsch, the band director at Persell Middle School, of that experience. “And it allows the kids to understand their role within our larger community.”

Joining the band or orchestra in middle school is also an important way to build confidence, Lentsch added.

“It’s the only thing I can think of where you have verbal communication between the teacher and the student, communication with your body and with your instrument, and student-to-student communication where you have to listen and relate in real time what’s happening in your part as opposed to somebody else’s,” said Lentsch. “When you make that happen, it’s a huge positive, it’s a huge confidence booster, and it’s a huge intrinsic motivator.”

Beyond the notes, the program offers a vital sense of belonging during the middle school transition as students are unable to join modified athletic programs until seventh grade.

“The band room, the orchestra room, and the choir room are all homes away from home for students especially as they make the transition to a new building and a new life at the middle school,” Pawelski said.

“I tell them that we’re like a big puzzle and every single one of them is a part of that puzzle and without them we can’t make a whole band,” Wakefield said.

It also teaches patience.

“Patience is really important — you have to be patient with yourself because you might not be successful right away,” said Wakefield. “It’s so important for kids to have a challenge, have a goal and something they’re working towards and then be so excited when they meet that goal.”

Pawelski loves working with middle school students because of how impressionable they are.

“There are many special things about middle school students, but the most special is that these kids are old enough to do great things and young enough to be really excited about something,” she said. “I love watching them grow up and helping to inspire them to do great things in their life.”

Working with students for four straight years is also rewarding.

“The best part of the orchestra program is that I get to see these kids for four years straight and get to watch as they grow — from fifth grade all the way through eighth grade. I get to see them grow in confidence as well. They find something that they can do well with other people,” said Ceng.

Derrenbacher also noted that while classical music provides the rudiments for instrumental music education, the teachers are always looking to engage kids with music they love.

“While classical music is very important to our foundation and culture in orchestra, we know no boundaries: bluegrass, jazz, pop music, R&B — that constant desire for me to keep up with the kids and what they think is really cool and make that a part of what we do I find really motivating,” she said.

Lentsch is motivated by the fact that every year is different.

“Every time you think you have it figured out, you don’t anymore,” he said. “The way I connected with students back when I started my career in 2000 is different from how I connected with students in 2010 and is different from how I connect with students now. There is never time to stop learning — and I’ve always enjoyed learning.”

One of the most unique aspects of the instrumental music program at both the middle and high school level is that many of the instructors are Jamestown High School alumni. Pawelski, Wakefield, and JHS band director Meghan Murray, each grew up in the program. Both Wakefield and Pawelski each taught at the middle school level and collegiately in other areas before returning home to teach in Jamestown — and in the very buildings they grew up in.

“Music is so important to so many people around this whole city and whole community, and it’s important to me to keep that going,” added Wakefield.

“Many of us went through this program here in Jamestown and it meant so much to us that while we could have lived anywhere in the country to teach music, we wanted to come back here and continue this legacy,” said Pawelski. “It’s very personal for us to keep that legacy going.”

But Ceng and Lentsch, who come from different parts of New York State, fully appreciate that opportunities in music available in Jamestown are not available everywhere.

“I’m from Long Island and there are a lot of competitive programs there and so when I got here, I was incredibly impressed by all of the teachers and the high school performances,” Ceng said. “My hope really is that I can prepare these kids to have these high-level performances when they get to high school to meet that standard.”

“Not everyone in New York state has the opportunity to play an instrument,” said Lentsch. “You have the opportunities in front of you here that will help you grow, influence you in your adult life, and more importantly have a great time with your friends here in school.”

For more information on the JPS music department and for a calendar of upcoming events, visit jpsny.org/music.