MIDI FOR KIDS is offering open enrollment for after school music classes to be held at Montwood Middle and El Dorado High School, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after school.  The classes are open to students from 1st through 12th grade.  With partners Romeo Music and Midi For Kids, the classes will combine traditional music theory with creativity and improvisation. Students will learn how to play, compose, create, build instrumental skills, play by ear, read notation and connect musical concepts to other subjects such as math and language.
 
Students learn and explore the following concepts through piano/keyboard:  pattern recognition, music problem solving, abstract reasoning, discriminative listening, recursion, and generative learning.

“Piano is the basis for everything and can help children to learn any other instrument.  By taking music classes, student test scores have gotten better, their attention span improves and they are more disciplined,” said Sara Long.  Sara Long is a 2nd year teacher with MIDI for Kids After-School Music Programs at El Dorado High School. Sara has taught music for thirty-one years and is newly retired from Socorro ISD. She has a Bachelors of Music degree from Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas.

To find out about price plans, weekly schedule and calendar, please log onto www.midiforkids.com. Registration is also available online.  Class size is limited.

Classes at El Dorado High School with Sara Long:

• Keyboard for grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 for beginners.
  Thursday at 4:30 - 5:15 Starting: 08/28/2008
• Keyboard for grades 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 for 2nd year returning.
  Wednesday at 4:30 - 5:15 Starting: 08/27/2008
• Keyboard for grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 for beginners.
  Tuesday at 4:30-5:15 Starting: 08/26/2008

Classes at Montwood Middle School with Laura Aguirre:

• Keyboard for grades 4, 5, 6 for 2nd year returning.
  Thursday at 4:00-4:45 Starting: 09/04/2008
• Keyboard for grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for beginners.
  Wednesday at 4:00-4:45 Starting: 09/03/2008
• Keyboard for grades 2, 3, 4 for 2nd year returning.
  Tuesday at 4:00-4:45 Starting: 09/02/2008

There will be no classes during the SISD Fall and Spring Intersessions. The cost is $65 per month plus materials and registration fee.  For more information, please call Sara Long, 915-256-5172 or email her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or email Laura Aguirre at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

“The first expectation of parents is for their child to learn how to play the instrument. By learning music, it helps children improve their focus and build their concentration skills which they can use in other classes,” said Aguirre. Laura Aguirre is a new teacher with MIDI for Kids After-School Music Programs at Montwood Middle School. She graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor’s degree in Music. She is currently the piano lab teacher at Montwood Middle School.

The MIDI for Kids program is comprehensive even within the musical training. MIDI for Kids uses the entertainment and emotion of music to invite innovation and cooperation from students.