BUFFALO TWP — Once in your head, music is unforgettable, said Taylor Roles, Buffalo Elementary School fourth-grader.

“You hear music all the time, whether you're listening to the radio or performing,” said Taylor, 9. “I think it's an experience to see what you're going to do and how it's going to affect your life.”

Taylor's school district, Freeport, was recognized for the fourth time as a Best Communities for Music Education awardee in a program of the NAMM Foundation that celebrates school districts and schools for their support and commitment to music education and efforts to assure access to music for all students as part of a well-rounded education.

The foundation is a supporting organization of the National Association of Music Merchants.

At her choir's most recent concert, fourth-grader Caty Deacln had her very first solo performance where she sang “White Christmas.”

“It was good,” said Caty, 10. “They work so hard to make us learn.”

In addition to choir, Taylor and Caty play clarinet in band.

“There's so many different things that other schools might not get to do and chances to be in stuff,” Taylor said.

Bob Harris, the school district's music department chairman and Buffalo Elementary School music teacher, worked with about 50 students, or half of the school's fourth-grade choir earlier this month.

Across the district, five music faculty members manage 27 different groups, including, choir and band at multiple grade levels, jazz and wind ensembles, and high school musicals, Harris said.

Over the course of about seven years, participation in the district's music program has drastically increased, he said.

There are more than 100 students in high school choir and more than 100 students in the high school band, he said, in a school district that has about 150 students in a graduating class.

“The fact that we have almost a quarter of the school in band and choir at the high school is really great,” Harris said.

The high participation rate speaks to the program, said Tom Koharchik, choir director for grades six to 12 and the fall play and spring musical director/producer, who has been with the district for 13 years.

Students see music as a motivating factor to go to school, he said.

Harris is changing his approach in the general music classroom, he said.

“As society changes, what kids are interested in changes,” he said.

Harris took away the textbooks and every desk and chair in the music room, he said. Students engage in active music making, whether singing, dancing or playing instruments.

Harris has started to use popular music to draw in students and teach them music theory.

He recently added a drum set to the classroom instruments.

“That's one example of how we evolve and adapt as kids get bored with children's folk songs that music teachers have been teaching for 80 years,” he said. “Those songs are important to learn so they do not die off, but they should not be the primary focus if we want to turn a generation of kids into music makers and music appreciators instead of just a kid that likes their music class in elementary.”

Not only do families and the administration support the music programs, but community members who do not have children in Freeport schools attend events, Harris said.

Music is art that lifts the soul and creates joy, Koharchik said.

“If we didn't have music education, eventually there's going to come a point in time when we all don't have any music,” Koharchik said. “If we don't have that, we're robbing society of a beautiful gift.”

Music changes children, Harris said.

“It teaches them to take risks more than any other area of education, I believe,” he said. “Music's about risk taking and not being afraid to make a mistake and learning from your mistake and growing from that mistake.”

Here is a list of performance opportunities for Freeport School District students:Choir: Fourth grade and fifth grades at each elementary; sixth grade, seventh/eighth grades at middle schoolBand: Fourth grade and fifth grade at each elementary; sixth grade, seventh grade and eighth grade at middle schoolBuffalo Elementary: Select choir and musicalSouth Buffalo Elementary: Chamber choir and playMiddle School: Jazz band, musicalHigh School: Women's ensemble, men's choir, show choir, symphonic band, jazz band, wind ensemble, jazz ensemble, percussion ensemble, rock band, marching band, and fall and spring musicals.