Lower Gwynedd third-graders demonstrate district music program, recorders at Wissahickon board meeting

At the March 3 Wissahickon School Board meeting, Philip Leddy, principal at Lower Gwynedd, introduced a music program presentation that featured third-grade students demonstrating recorder pieces and classroom projects.

The presentation, led by Missus Bridal Guillen, the district's general music teacher at Lower Gwynedd, highlighted the districtwide general music schedule (meeting three times every 12 days for 45 minutes), a fifth-grade ukulele unit funded by a WEAUP grant, bucket drumming, culturally themed units and technology integration including Microsoft Sway pages and Canva projects. "Recorder has a lot of benefits," Guillen said, describing the instrument as a foundation for melody, pitch and rhythm and noting its role in preparing students for band and other instruments in later grades.

Guillen described classroom activities that combine music literacy, movement and creative projects. She showed a collection of third-grade Canva graphics built around the treble-clef mnemonic (E G B D F) and said a February posttest showed an improvement: "I believe that the statistic was 88 percent of all third graders got that question correct." Guillen also led a short live demonstration in which students played short recorder pieces they had learned in two to three weeks of instruction.

Board members praised the performance. Amy (board president) called the district music program "phenomenal" and encouraged families to attend upcoming concerts; Stephanie (board member) told students she was "so proud" and said music had been important to her own family. Students who spoke at the microphone said they enjoyed "learning how to play the recorder," "the games and learning the notes" and the videos used in class.

Why it matters: district leaders said the elementary music curriculum is intended to build musical literacy and transferable skills (fine motor control, breath support and ensemble work) that feed into middle- and high-school ensembles. Guillen emphasized that the recorder unit builds students' confidence and ensemble skills before students choose instruments in upper elementary grades.

The board invited the students and staff to remain for the rest of the meeting and encouraged attendance at spring concerts, noting a May concert date and other spring performances on the district calendar. The presentation included student performances and visual projects displayed on the meeting screen.

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