Abstract
Photo by Jonah Heinen
On December 12, 2014, University of Minnesota assistant professor of music education Laura Sindberg drove a group of three music education students to Underwood School in rural central Minnesota. (Sindberg is also the advisor for the campus’s National Association for Music Education Collegiate chapter.) The town of Underwood has about 340 residents and sits on 370 acres of land. The area brings to mind Garrison Keillor’s fictional Lake Woebegon—except this town is real. The purpose of this trip was to deliver instruments to the band at Underwood School, an E–12 school whose students range from early learning (prekindergarten) through high school levels. The instruments were purchased through the efforts of the NAfME Collegiate chapter on the University of Minnesota. This Collegiate NAfME group raised money through old-fashioned bake sales—many bake sales over the course of many months.
Arriving at the school, the group of collegians was greeted with a warm welcome by Jeremy Olson, the superintendent of the Underwood School District and a highly valued community member. Next, the visitors were directed to the gym, which had been recently adapted to create a performance space for the band concert that same night.
Band director T. J. Pelanek, an alumnus of the University of Minnesota, greeted the group and invited everyone to sit in on the band’s final in-class rehearsal before the big concert. The band, small but mighty, played their pieces with great excitement and passion. (Students range from grade 5 through high school.) After the group had played, Pelanek had the University of Minnesota students present the members of the band with the donated instruments for the Underwood music program. Pictures and a large thank-you card signed by all the band students were presented to the collegians.
The group of NAFME Collegiate students gleefully walked out of Underwood School knowing that they had accomplished something special—something that reinforced their desire and passion for music education. Having the opportunity to see the students’ faces as they held their new instruments shed a fresh light on why we become music educators: It’s for moments like this—moments that remind us of why we teach, why we make music, and why as music educators it is so important to share our resources in order to keep music alive in schools of all shapes and sizes.
Emily Curran, Iris Kolodji, and Sandor Minko en route to Underwood, Minnesota, to present instruments to a local school band
Photo by Laura Sindberg
Band students in the gym—transformed into a performance space for a concert—at the Underwood School in Underwood, Minnesota
Photo by Emily Curran
Giant thank-you note from Underwood [Minnesota] School band students to University of Minnesota Collegiate NAfME Chapter for new instruments
Photo by Laura Sindberg
The Underwood School in Underwood, Minnesota, December 2014
Photo by Emily Curran
Shannon Kelly, the NAfME Collegiate contact at the National Association for Music Education, adds that programs like the one described here deserve special recognition.
NAfME encourages all Collegiate chapters to create and carry out projects in Advocacy, Music Performance, Professional Development, Recruitment, or Service between January 1 and December 15, 2015. These projects can be recognized through application for an annual Chapter of Excellence Award.
To enter, chapters submit a description of their successful project to the National Association for Music Education. Visit
Applications and descriptions received by the deadline will be evaluated based on chapter participation, commitment, creativity, impact, organization, uniqueness, and visibility.
Send each completed application with an attached description to NAfME Collegiate Membership Recognition Program, NAfME, 1806 Robert Fulton Drive, Reston, Virginia 20191, or to