Young Ceres musicians learning guitar, piano after school

Listen carefully after school at Lucas Elementary, and catch the tentative strums, plucks and plinks of budding musicians floating along on the wind.

“When you tune it, you can make all kinds of music,” said second-grader Elia Hernandez as she touched one string after another, trying to get her fingers to stretch into chord positions. “It is kind of fun.”

“I like all the sounds,” said third-grader Mikaela Chavez. Guitar, she added, is easier than the keyboard lessons, even though she sometimes plays her grandpa’s piano.

“My favorite thing about playing is making songs like ‘Twinkle Little Star,’ ” said Mia Mendoza, a third-grader.

Nearly half of the dual-language school’s second- and third-graders take weekly guitar and-or piano keyboard lessons in the after-school program. As Principal Israel Gonzalez put it, “(It’s) almost like learning a third language – the language of music.”

Children at the bilingual campus in Ceres Unified spend half their day learning their regular lessons in English, half the day learning in Spanish. Subjects alternate between morning and afternoon to be learned in both languages.

Lucas opened in August 2013, adding a grade each year. Its oldest students will be fourth-graders in the fall, with a fresh batch of kindergartners adding 96 students to the rolls.

Kindergartners play wooden flutes and learn rhythms during class as part of the schoolwide decision to incorporate music into the program. The Lucas Parent Teacher Club bought keyboards. Families provide guitars for their students.

“Music is so important, I think, for their listening, their concentration, their fine motor skills with the fingering. It enhances their learning, all their academics, really,” said Maria Muñoz, a first-grade teacher at Lucas and volunteer helper in Friday’s guitar class.

At the front of the class stood her husband German Muñoz, a semi-retired tech worker, tuning guitars before leading the lesson. His volunteered time is a nice way to spend the day, he said as he adjusted a student’s grip on the bulky instruments.

Many of the youngsters held the guitars facing up on their laps, stretching to reach under the long necks to reach chord positions. Friday was their third lesson, and the playing was still tentative strums and one-string plucks.

“We are still in the beginning phases of it, but continue to see an interest as more students want to sign up. Our music coaches did not expect such a high interest from our students or the great support from our parents,” Gonzalez said.

“I can’t wait till this is a concert!” he added with a wide grin.

This story was originally published February 22, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Young Ceres musicians learning guitar, piano after school."