Oxnard School District Gets New Piano Lab

A new program is hitting a high note in the Oxnard School District. Students at Haydock academy can now learn how to play the piano as one of their electives in a brand new piano lab.

Students at Haydock Academy are getting an opportunity to learn how to play the piano.

“I didn’t know how to play the piano, at all when I first came, now I do,” said eighth-grader Adrian Aguilar.

“We learn which positions to use on the piano and we learn which notes to use so it could sound exactly like you were singing,” said seventh-grader Ashley Gonzales.

The piano lab at Haydock Academy is the only one in the Oxnard School District. Eddy Bond, the principal of the school, believes it is helping the children become better students.

“It gives them a more complete educational experience and a reason to want to come to school,” said Bond.

“It’s my favorite class, because it is educational but also like having fun at the same time,” said Gonzales.

The pre-teens get to spend about an hour a day in the piano class Monday through Friday, but unlike other instruments, a piano is too big to take home to practice on, so for many kids going to class was their only chance to practice.

Realizing that many students in the Oxnard School District come from low-income families and might not be able to afford their own keyboard to practice, Yamaha and Keyboard concepts decided to jump in and help by donating eight new keyboard sets.

The teachers, as well as students, are happy they can now practice at home.