HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) - The music program at Alcott Elementary has risen from the ashes after a fire in late December destroyed instruments, materials and the building that housed the program.
On the morning of Dec. 29, 2017, a modular unit at the Morton Elementary site where Alcott students are attending school caught fire and was destroyed along with all of its contents.
At the time, there was some question of if and when the instrumental music programs would return and what the choral music program would look like.
“This is my fifth year at Alcott and my fifth year teaching in general, and everything I had built up till now is gone,” said choral teacher Tony Fagiolo.
Fagiolo lost everything he uses to teach music except for his laptop computer, which he had taken home over the holiday break.
“Now it’s a matter of finding resources I used before and remaking them,” he told the Hastings Tribune . “I will say it’s an interesting situation - teachers who do music on a cart.”
That’s what Fagiolo is doing for likely the rest of the semester.
Everything he has and everything he uses is on a cart that he pushes around the halls of Alcott. Part of his day he teaches students in their home rooms, and the rest of the time he teaches in the art room.
Much of his curriculum now is based on singing and movement, so he will teach a lesson and then the students will sing and move. Fagiolo repeats this routine throughout the day in each grade.
Fagiolo said he didn’t want to worry about finding too much replacement equipment or material since next year he and his students will be in a remodeled Alcott where he can regrow his collection of materials and instruments.
“There is a significant change to how I teach,” Fagiolo said. “I also had to relearn how to teach a day.”
While Fagiolo is taking his materials from room to room, the instrumental music program has found a temporary home on the school’s stage.
“The district walled off the stage so we wouldn’t have a sound issue with the gym class,” said elementary band teacher Rick Matticks. “They’ve been working pretty hard on that.”
This was the first week classes were conducted and every student had an instrument, something that was questionable in the days after the fire.
Fortunately, the students had stored their instruments in their lockers within the school building rather than in the music building. That means Matticks only lost a few drum sets, a piano, a keyboard, several guitars and a couple baritones along with the music materials.
Orchestra teacher Christine Niemeyer lost all of the stringed instruments that had been stored in the building including several violins and some instruments that had been purchased with a grant years ago. However, many of the student instruments were also in their lockers.
Matticks said the students have been sharing stringed instruments and will continue to do so until the new instruments arrive.
“The good news is honestly the district has very good insurance and the insurance company is going to cover everything,” Matticks said.
The two baritone players have instruments at home, and Matticks found two older baritones for them use in the short term.
Matticks said he and Niemeyer haven’t had the challenge that Fagiolo has had working from a cart teaching students. They are only in the building one day a week while Fagiolo is there every day.
“It’s definitely been a challenge for Tony,” Matticks said. “He’s got the hardest job when it comes to figuring out how to continue with classes.”
Fagiolo said after the fire, he told himself to make the best of the situation no matter what the rest of his year looked like.
The students have been a big help, he said.
“They’re being kind and patient,” he said. “They’re dealing just fine. I think it helps everybody. I feel lucky to work with these kids at Alcott.”
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Information from: Hastings Tribune, http://www.hastingstribune.com
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