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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nParis was elated with the news and said, \u201cFor the strings teachers in K-12 to have funds available for violin repairs, professional development, field trips, and more without the often tedious and tiresome efforts of fundraising is truly a dream come true!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April, over 750 people reserved seats and attended the \u201cCelebrating Lynchburg City Schools Strings \u2013 Past, Present, and Future\u201d show held in honor of Paris at the Academy Center of the Arts\u2019 Historic Academy Theatre. This event featured notable LCS Strings alumns such as Emily Glover \u2014 wife of Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra Music Director\/Conductor David Glover, Greg Childress, Dr. Tes Slominski, Elizabeth Vonderheide, Stephen Meyer, and many others. The day following this event, the 52nd annual Suzuki Festival was held at E. C. Glass High School, which featured an overflowing stage of elementary and middle school students performing together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The LCS Strings program is the only program in the Commonwealth of Virginia that offers free Suzuki violin lessons to kindergarten through fifth grade students and orchestra to sixth through 12th grade students. Currently, over 850 students \u2014 or just over 10% of the student population \u2014 are involved in the LCS Strings program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am envious of my students who get to learn by the Suzuki method,\u201d said Paris. \u201cThey listen to recordings, repeat small segments with the help of a parent, and later, attach abstract notes to what they can already play. I didn\u2019t get to learn violin until the third grade. My private teacher required me to take two years of piano and know how to read music first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suzuki violin students learn self-confidence to memorize quickly and develop a keen sense of pitch. Children learn best by repetition, and eventually, Paris sees that special twinkle in their eyes as they find the notes before she\u2019s even taught them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is an inner joy in making music, whether you\u2019re doing it for yourself or others. The skills that are learned carry over into everything you do. They help students become better students and, as Dr. Suzuki often stated, \u2018a better person.\u2019 Music is a universal language no matter where you go. Even if the music is very different from what you are accustomed to hearing in your culture, it helps you relate to others.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n After 50 years of teaching, how does she do it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, I have lots of stamina. Each year, I have somewhere between 150-225 students, so I\u2019m now teaching children of former students and even a few grandchildren. I can\u2019t imagine life without teaching.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ginger Paris LCS Strings Fund soared to over $126,000 in donations, quickly surpassing its original goal of $100,000. GN <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GINGER PARIS places her violin in the playing position while students as young as 5 do the same. After the introduction ends, the sounds of the first song they learned, \u201cMississippi Hot Dog,\u201d fill the room. The students are eager to please their beloved Mrs. Paris, and the parents in attendance beam as they note […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":21859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lynchburg-va\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/06\/1-5-1024x683.png\")
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