Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Chad Klassen

PARKCREST ELEMENTARY

Kamloops Ukulele Orchestra steps up to help Parkcrest Elementary

Feb 24, 2020 | 5:14 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Parkcrest Elementary School fire devastated an entire community last September.

It wasn’t just the school building itself — it was all the contents of the school. Thousands of library books, which have been replenished thanks to generous donations from the community, classroom materials and musical instruments.

When the Kamloops Ukulele Orchestra heard about what was lost in the fire, they decided to dedicate their fundraising efforts to buying new ukuleles for the school.

The Kamloops Ukulele Orchestra put on a little show for these Grade 6 students at Parkcrest Elementary today (Feb. 24). It started out with more complicated songs like Wild Thing, then transitioned to a simpler song from the Lion King.

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But the real reason they were at Parkcrest on Monday was to give out 30 ukuleles to the class.

“We have an annual Christmas concert with the club and usually the proceeds are given to a community organization such as (Kamloops) Hospice, and this year we thought given this school had lost ukuleles this was the perfect place that we would fundraise for,” said orchestra member Jeanette Scott.

The school’s 15 ukuleles were lost in last September’s fire. The orchestra raised more than $2,000 to cover the cost of the 30 its members donated.

“It’s a really generous gift from the Ukulele Orchestra of Kamloops. It’s going to mean a lot for kids all over our district, not just here at Parkcrest but of course primarily for these students here,” said SD 73 Arts Education Coordinator Christy Gauley.

Members of the orchestra taught the kids the basics of the instrument, preparing them to play The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

After 15 minutes of practice, the kids gave it a shot. Most of the students loved every minute of it. The class appreciates having their own ukuleles to practice with the rest of the year.