October 13, 2022

Fourth grade students at Gilles-Sweet Elementary have a new way to experience music this school year.

To help students experience what it’s like to play a string instrument and learn music literacy, the school recently purchased 30 ukuleles with grant funding. Previously, fourth grade students played the recorder in music class, and learned how to sing.

“We do still use recorders, and that still is very successful,” Peter Cibulskas, music teacher at Gilles-Sweet explained. “We thought about starting ukuleles so that we can start developing finger dexterity for our string players as well. We’re trying to fill out the fourth-grade curriculum to get them ready for the next step.”

“Fine motor skills for this age group has been significantly decreasing over the years due to a variety of factors, technology being the main culprit,” Hillery Needham, director of orchestras for the district explained. “Getting ukuleles in students' hands will give students fine muscle training in their fingers that will help them get ready for a stringed instrument in fifth grade orchestra. It will help with penmanship and hand-eye coordination and fire all brain areas at one time.”

As fifth graders, the next step for students is joining the band, orchestra, or choir. With those skills beginning to develop at the elementary level, students head off to middle school with a background in music tailored to them.

“They’re going to have a choice to make,” Cibulskas added. “We just want to give them the basic fundamentals for each of these kinds of instruments.”

To help students extend their participation through performance and reconnect students with their classmates and teachers, the ukuleles were purchased through grant money from the ADAMHS Board of Cuyahoga County. The group supports individuals in the county by committing to mental health and addiction prevention services. The total cost of the ukuleles and cases was $1,710.

“The kids have loved it,” Cibulskas stated. “They all seem to be excited about it. We’re taking it in baby steps and just learning basic chords. They’ve probably played the ukuleles maybe ten times, so they’re starting to get it down and get the hang of it.”

After some initial training in the spring, Cibulskas had to get the “hang” of the instrument himself. 

“Over the summer, I played around with the ukulele and figured things out,” Cibulskas said. “For me, when I do it myself, I find strategies to teach the kids different ways of doing it. I’ve grown in my position with the band by playing different instruments. I’ve learned tricks and gotten better as a teacher by playing along with the kids, too.” 

“It’s a unique experience for our students,” Shanna Kovi, associate principal at Gilles-Sweet expressed. “It’s an exposure to a different type of instrument, a higher level of playing music. I think this district does such a nice job of promoting music education and providing a  continuum of musical experiences for these students. It really sets a good foundation.”