Third grader Nick Wherthey on Thursday plays a guitar donated to Slippery Rock Elementary School by Music for a Song, a store at the Prime Outlets in Grove City, while third grade teacher Pam Croll, center, and Stacey Steele, an assistant professor of music at Slippery Rock University, listen.

SLIPPERY ROCK — Pam Croll is willing to do anything to get her students more engaged in the classroom.

While the third grade teacher at Slippery Rock Elementary School has yet to develop her own musical skills, she is committed to learning at least three guitar chords so she can use a donated instrument from Music for a Song at the Prime Outlets in Grove City.

"I am an avid Guitar Hero fan, but I think this will be a lot different," Croll said. "My brother plays in a band with his wife, so he will teach me a few things. It will be fun."

Dan Basso, manager of Music for a Song, graduated from Slippery Rock High School and also attended Slippery Rock University. The donation of the guitar Thursday will act as a model after the Guitars in the Classroom program, which is a national initiative to create song-based instruction.

"It seemed like a good program, and obviously, music will grasp the attention of the kids and make learning easier and more interesting for them," Basso said. "I think it will help in keeping them more interested in the lessons and might influence more kids to have an interest in music also."

Croll is looking forward to learning a new skill with the guitar.

"I am hoping that once I learn some chords, then I can teach the students how to play," Croll said. "Any research I have read on music said it calms them and makes them focus, so I could also play before we read a story."

Stacey Steele, assistant professor of music at SRU, said she would bring music education students over to the elementary school to help teach Croll how to play guitar.

"I used to teach a class called studies in children's music for the classroom for teachers to use music in every subject," Steele said. "I passionately believe that if music is at the heart of all subjects, students are more engaged in learning and it's more fun and easier to remember."

Steele said music is important in every class, whether it's learning an historical song in a social studies class or learning the acoustics of a guitar in science.