One hundred-ninety seven students in the Cedar Hill ISD orchestra program shined in their holiday concert Dec. 8 at the Cedar Hill High School Performing Arts Center. The students who performed were from Bray Elementary, West and Joe Wilson Intermediate, as well as Bessie Coleman and Permenter middle schools.
“The students did an amazing job with their holiday performance,” said Ken Peach CHISD Fine Arts Director. “It is so 
The Cedar Hill school district started building an orchestra program after Bray Elementary principal Robert Johansen felt it was important for all of his elementary students to learn to play a string instrument.
“We used $10,000 of the Bray campus budget to purchase a classroom set of instruments. Through community donations we now have enough instruments for 70 students to perform in a concert. All students at Bray get two classes a week of string instrument instruction,” Johansen said. “Research shows there is a direct correlation between fine arts and increased student achievement in reading and math.” A study by the Texas Music Educators Association showed that campuses with a higher percentage of student enrollments in fine arts courses achieved higher academic ratings and reported higher graduation rates.
West and Joe Wilson Intermediate started their orchestra programs in 2009 and 2010. Bessie Coleman and Permenter Middle Schools started their strings programs in 2011. Part of the strings program expansion was paid for by the Cedar Hill ISD Education Foundation, which has donated money every year to purchase some instruments for the orchestra students. Wendy Anuwe, coordinator of the orchestra programs at Bessie Coleman and Permenter middle schools has moved up with the original strings students at Bray. “It is wonderful to see the growth of these young talented students,” Anuwe said. “It is also heartwarming to see how the community has supported the strings program both financially and as an enthusiastic audience.”
The school district had been on track for the strings program to start at Cedar Hill High School by 2014. “That timetable was contingent on the Tax Ratification Election which failed to pass in November,” Peach said. “It is my opinion that it is important for us to keep the strings programs advancing up the grade levels as planned. It is important to note that many school districts have cut their fine arts program under the current budget crisis, but we hope our strings program can stay on track and continue to grow along with district and community support.”
