Student of the Month: September 2025 Edition
Learning a new instrument is an exploration! Our September students of the month have embodied the spirit of adventure, following their curiosity in all areas of their lives. Read on!
Adeline Smallwood
Meet Adeline, a 3rd grader who is interested in learning, well, just about everything! She is currently taking piano lessons with Kristen; however, in the past she learned the drums and also spent some time shredding the air guitar. While she is loving the piano, she also has future dreams of learning the flute. Nothing is off limits to this budding musician!
Adeline just loves music - ALL of the music! She enjoys singing and dancing along. Her current favorite piano song to play is “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. You can imagine that Adeline has lots of different hobbies. When she is not being musical, she plays games with friends and enjoys drawing and coloring animal pictures.
Kristen is blown away by Adeline’s creativity and loves watching her use her own unique methods to learn concepts. Says Kristen: “Adeline has been patient with the process of learning bass and treble clefs. She’s done color coordinating to help highlight which is which. Seeing her make sense of it on her own is so awesome! I love seeing the excitement of what she accomplished. I was so proud of Adeline when she understood the different notes in bass clef and treble clef, and knowing which hands to use!”
Presley Orozco
This fantasy book reader and cat lover has been taking guitar lessons with Kat for just about 9 months now. She’s loving it! Presley enjoys the way the guitar sounds. Her favorite song learned so far is “Glow” by Livingston. From the brightness of her turquoise guitar to grappling with the G chord, music lessons are something that makes Presley happy.
When Presley is not practicing guitar, you will find her in a myriad of other activities. She takes hip hop, tap, and acro lessons. Not to mention that she is a purple level 3 in karate! She also loves drawing animals and has an ever-growing collection of pop tops.
Kat enjoys working with Presley. Kat can’t believe how quickly Presley has progressed in the instrument and appreciates Presley’s focus and work ethic. Says Kat: “Presley is a natural when it comes to the guitar! She has improved so much in the short time I've taught her, and she's always attentive and ready to tackle anything, even if it pushes her a little outside her comfort zone!”
We can’t wait to see what comes next, Presley!
- Danielle Parker