Griffee-Belcher Engagement

Marion schools now offering vocal lessons

Students can finetune their singing voices with one- onone sessions

Marion School District If you are a student in grades 9-12 in the Marion District, think you have a good singing voice and want to improve your talent, there is something you can do about it.

Beginning the second week of January, private voice lessons with be offered at the school to students enrolled in MSD. The lessons will be taught from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

According to MHS Choir Director Doug Conwill, students who may be too shy or afraid to show their talent can enroll in the free program.

“Kate Smith (MJHS Choir Director) and I will be teaching groups,” he said.

“Students will learn good technique. It is not just for choir members but all students. It is more than what they would learn in class.

The program is designed to build confidence in students.”

Conwill said private voice lessons can cost $25 to more than $100 per hour but these lessons are absolutely free. The funding is from a $660,000 Community Learning Grant from the federal government and is for three years.

The grant can be renewed.

Emily Hall, MSD School Improvement Specialist Program Director; Julie Coveny, MSD Director of Federal Programs; and Sandra Hailey, MSD District Improvement Specialist garnered the five-year grant before this school year began. The grant is designed to offer students “enrichment and physical activities after the normal school day.”

“This is a great opportunity for our students,” Conwill said. “There is no audition or application fee.

We have seven students signed up now and if we get enough, we will go to two days a week.”

Conwill said the program will also expose the students to “really great singers. When the kids were at the Voctave concert, Dr. Fenter and other members of the administration said they had more fun watching the kids and their enjoyment of really great singers.”

To register, students should e-mail Smith at kesmith@ msd3.org or Conwill at dconwill@msd3.org

By Mike Douglas