Jennifer Thrasher drew five evenly spaced horizontal lines on the board for her newly formed middle school choir. “I asked them, ‘what is this?’ On that first day, nobody could verbalize the name of it but you could tell there was some kind of recognition,” she recalled. Her students had been introduced to the music staff in elementary school but it was clear that Thrasher had work to do if she wanted Woodville School’s Mustang Choir to succeed. 

“The staff is the most foundational thing we use in music,” explained Thrasher whose main goal is music literacy. School began in August and since then the choir has shown significant growth.They’ve even completed a public performance tour for residents in the HarborChase, Miracle Hill, and Miracle Village care facilities. “It was the most amazing choral experience. The students nailed it, absolutely nailed it,” beamed Thrasher. 

Seventh-grader Fantasia Pasley is proud of what the group accomplished on the choir tour. “We did very well and everybody was giving us compliments.” When thinking back to the residents she met, Fantasia added “some people don’t have the voice to do it and we’re supporting them with our voice to make them feel better. It boosts my confidence up to sing in front of other people.” 

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