St. Martha Strings Program

“The most precious gift we can give to a child is our time and patience.”

 -Shinichi Suzuki

St. Martha School has offered strings classes as part of our arts curriculum for over twenty years. This fact is as hopeful as it is gratifying. Playing a stringed instrument is one of the most complex tasks a person can undertake, at any age. And one which takes time to bear fruit. A part-time instructor once expressed surprise at the fact that families would invest the extra financial resources needed to have their children participate in strings at St. Martha. It is more remarkable that, along with those resources, parents at St. Martha would drive their students to extra rehearsals, wait longer after school dismissal to enable their children to participate in extra practices, and instill the discipline needed at home to help their children build a daily practice habit. Yet this is exactly what is happening at St. Martha School. 

The resources that tend to be in greatest demand for parents are their time and attention. When parents choose an activity like violin for their child, when they provide the instrument, the space in the home and schedule for practice, the encouragement and support to keep going after the initial excitement has worn off (as it always does), they are acting in faith. These actions are like the constant sowing and watering of seeds. Most days there is little evidence of growth, and the discipline-aspect of learning an instrument is like all other disciplines, at first unpleasant. But with time, it becomes a source of pride, achievement, and confidence. What a great advantage it is to be part of an institution of faith-based education, where reaping what one sows is a deeply held belief and observable at so many levels. 

A child who learns to play the violin learns they are capable of doing difficult things. They learn that small goals can be cumulative and lead to big results, that one ability can engender another, that instant gratification is not the only kind, or the best kind, of reward, and that making music with your friends who might not all look like you or think like you is possible (and fun!) when everyone does their part. St. Martha School has created the space in the school day to make this a possibility for every one of their students. And the parents at St. Martha School have demonstrated that in this hectic day and age, the choice to give of their time and attention for the sake of their children is not only an act of love but of faith.