Parent Instrumental Music Association (PIMA)
Brief History
The Instrumental Music Program in School District 102 has existed for over 65 years. Through these years, thousands of children have received an education in instrumental music, performing in our bands and orchestras. Currently, anywhere from 550-650 students participate in our program which is one of the reasons why our Instrumental Music Program has earned a reputation of excellence in this community.
Music Teacher Contacts
Jason Lyons
Email: lyonsja@dist102.k12.il.us
Phone: (708) 215-7137
Nancy Flanagan
Email:flanaganna@dist102.k12.il.u
Phone: (708)215-7135
Alexander Foote
Email: footeal@dist102.k12.il.us
Phone: (708) 215-6011
Jacqulynn Rhea
Email: rheaja@dist102.k12.il.us
Phone: (708) 215-6416
Instrumental Band
Band instruments include: flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, cornet, French horn, trombone, euphonium, tuba, and percussion.
Orchestra
Orchestra instruments include: violin, viola, cello and string bass.
How the Program Works
There are three basic parts to our program: 1) Small Group Lessons, 2) Large Group Rehearsals, 3) At-Home Practice
Small-Group Lessons
Each band and orchestra student will receive one 30-minute lesson per week on his instrument. Typically, each grade school has Orchestra lessons on one set day and Band on another. Quite often a 3rd lesson day per school may be added to accommodate large numbers of beginning (4th grade) members. Lessons are held during the school day at students’ respective schools. The lesson time will rotate by one half hour each consecutive week so that the child will not miss the same academic class more than once in a 9-week period of time. The student is expected to leave class 3 minutes prior to the lesson ‘start’ time, attend a 30-minute lesson, then arrive back to class within 3 minutes of the lesson ‘end’ time, for a total of 36 minutes. A schedule listing all the students with their assigned lesson dates/times will be issued provided.
Large Group Rehearsals
Each band or orchestra member will attend one large group rehearsal per week. This rehearsal will be held before school at Park Junior High from 7:30 to 8:07am. All four district grade schools will meet with band or orchestra members of their age group for this large group rehearsal.
At-Home Practice
Each band and orchestra member is expected to practice his instrument at least 100 minutes per week. 20 minutes, 5 days a week is recommended. We hope that you will support your children’s decision to study a musical instrument and encourage them to keep up with ‘at-home practice’ and with their attendance to Small Group Lessons and Large Group Rehearsals.
The Large Group Rehearsal schedule for this year is as follows:
Monday: Concert Band (7th/8th grade), Concert Orchestra (7th/8th grade)
Tuesday: Advanced Band (6th grade), Beginning Orchestra (4th grade)
Wednesday: Beginning Band (4th grade), Advanced Orchestra (6th grade), Jazz Band (7th/8th grade)
Thursday: Concert Band (7th/8th grade), Concert Orchestra (7th/8th grade)
Friday: Intermediate Band (5th grade), Intermediate Orchestra (5th grade)
There are two bus routes, known as the ‘Early bird’ routes that make designated stops throughout our community to pick up band/orchestra students and deliver them to Park Junior High. Some parents elect to drive the students to the rehearsal instead. At the end of our rehearsals, there are 4 buses that return students to their respective schools. The one ‘downside’ of this arrangement is that the buses that return the students to their respective schools are not always on time and you may find the band/orchestra members occasionally arriving up to10 minutes late to school. In such cases, students are instructed to check in with the health (attendance) office upon their arrival so that they are not marked as ‘truant’. Ogden students will be walked back to school after the rehearsal by a para-educator during our fair weather months and bused back to Ogden during Nov-March.
