I had the pleasure of being one of the chaperones on the Mercer Island High School Orchestra field trip on Friday May 22. About 50 students, representing approximately 80 percent of the orchestra, gave up their day off from school to perform locally at two retirement communities (Aljoya and Island House) and one preschool (Early World Montessori).

I was torn between watching the orchestra and watching the reactions from the audience – four-year olds moving their whole bodies to the beat of Duel of the Fates from Star Wars and 80-year olds singing along to the Sound of Music medley.

It was so refreshing to see all of these students volunteer their time to share their music with the community without a promise of class credit, community service hours, or competition. Their only payoff were the smiles on the audiences’ faces (and a spaghetti dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory).

This entire trip was organized brilliantly by one of the senior members, Stephanie Lee, who approached the director, Vicki White-Miltun with the idea. Huge kuddos to Mrs. White-Miltun for also giving up her free day and allowing her students to have this experience. Also, a big thanks goes out to the members of the Mercer Island Band who helped round out the orchestra with the addition of their instruments.

The trip was made possible through donations to Team O, the non-profit booster club which benefits Mercer Island Orchestra students in 5th through 12th grades.

Carina Evens