November 16, 2022

Service to others is an important part of the Fairview High School experience. The Tri-M Music Honor Society builds on that tradition while creating a tight-knit community for high school music students.

According to their website, Tri-M Music Honor Society focuses on creating future leaders in music education and music advocacy. Across the globe, there are more than 2,100 chapters involving over 84,000 students. Students contribute more than 750,000 hours of service to their school and local community each year through Tri-M.

“Students can become members by applying through a formal application process,” Hillery Needham, director of orchestras for the Fairview Park City Schools explained. “Students admitted into the organization display exemplary character, musicianship, and good grades.”

Now in its fourth year, the FHS chapter of Tri-M has about 32 students. After their induction ceremony in September, Tri-M students have been busy planning how they can best support music programs at the school.

“All of these students love music, and they love what they are doing in their own ensembles,” Needham said. “They want to help out in any way for the performing arts.”

According to Needham, students volunteer their time to help work all the music concerts in the district. In addition, they host fundraisers for student music trips and programs. They also work to connect students within the music programs, including younger students at the middle school and Gilles-Sweet.

“All the music organizations come together to help each other,” Kaleigh Cepek, a senior in Tri-M said. “It really builds a community between all three music groups and is able to involve people from band, orchestra and choir.”

“I like being able to prove to the community how much their help means to us, and showing how we can give it back to them,” Vivian Anagnostos, a senior in Tri-M explained. “If some parents can’t step in during the fundraiser, we’ll take over for them andl help. We’ll be there to get kids engaged and to talk with them more. We really want to pique their interest in music.”

“I’m the youth engagement chair,” Emma McMonagle, another senior in Tri-M added. “I just try to engage the middle schoolers or even the fifth graders who can’t be in Tri-M. We try to encourage them and to create that environment. They can see what we do in high school in music, and hopefully, they want to stick with it.”

This winter, Tri-M students are involved in a number of projects and concerts. First, the students will volunteer at the annual holiday music concerts on Dec. 10 and Dec. 14. They also are organizing a pancake fundraiser at Applebees on Dec. 4. March is Music in Our Schools month, where Tri-M students will continue to make those important connections with younger students.

“I feel an important part of all of this is being able to recognize them,” Needham said. “This is something these students can put on their college applications or job applications. It says that they can play in an ensemble can and play an instrument, but they were also a leader. They did things outside of playing their instrument - they did extra.”

Learn more about Tri-M and support their fundraising efforts by following them on Twitter @fpcs_tri_m8059.