(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -The community has helped give the gift of music through ukuleles to the students at Grant Elementary.
Christopher and his friends are a part of the new ukulele club at Grant Elementary.
“I think it’s really fun,” Christopher says.
They’ve been learning different kinds of chords and songs, like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
This was something that started after school nurse, Heidi Hash, talked to a Lewis and Clark High School student who said he’d be willing to teach how to play the ukulele to students.
But they needed enough instruments for the 16 kids who wanted to learn. Heidi says they borrowed from other schools, and then Perry Street Brewing posted to their Facebook page asking if anyone could help out.
Then, a man walked through the entrance at the school and said, “’I want kids to have an opportunity and play so how many do you need?’”
Heidi told him they borrowed 16 and then he wrote a check for 16 ukuleles.
“It was amazing, just absolutely amazing for our kids,” she says.
And it’s been fun to see the students learn and grow.
“My favorite part is when we learn new songs, and other songs that we know. But we need to practice on and then we get better at it,” Christopher says.
“So the pride they feel in practicing, being successful and showing their parents the little songs they're learning it's great,” Heidi says.
You can see those notes of pride clearly, as they strum away. Heidi adds that others have also given donations to help, including someone from Seattle.