Santa Ana’s Willard Intermediate School rebuilds its music program with a local church’s help

Gisela Flores, a singer, feels lucky to be a part of a music program at her middle school.

The 13-year-old eighth-grader at Frances E. Willard Intermediate School in Santa Ana said her mother, who also sings, didn’t have the same opportunity when she was that age.

“Since my mom was 6 or 7, she started teaching herself how to sing,” Gisela said. “When she got older and in high school, she began getting lessons and was in choir. But she didn’t have choir while she was in middle school.”

Seven years ago, Gisela may not have had an opportunity to sing in a music program while in middle school either.

Then, the music program at Willard Intermediate, which is considered one of the most impoverished schools in the Santa Ana Unified School District, was in jeopardy.

It had no full-time music teachers, and the only instructors were long-term substitutes.

That changed when New Hope Presbyterian Church decided to get involved and form the Hope Alive program, which raises money to support music education at Willard.

“This is the church’s passion,” said the Rev. Chineta Goodjoin of the Orange-based church. “We have a character and niche, and we have a lot of musicians in our church.

“Back in 2008, we asked what we could do with all our talent to help the community. We went to the Santa Ana school district in 2008, and they said Willard had no music program, so any way we could help them would be better than what they had.”

The church arranged for professional musicians to perform for the students and also paid the salary of a part-time music instructor at the school to help build the music program once again. Now it boasts a choir, band and drumline.

“We didn’t want music to be lost,” Goodjoin said, adding that students who move on from Willard to neighboring Santa Ana High School have the option to continue their participation in the Hope Alive-sponsored functions at Willard.

The church-funded music budget is largely fed by the annual Hope Alive concert. Professional musicians are invited to work with the students and perform with them in the show. Past guests have included Grammy Award nominee singer Sheila E. and Grammy-winning jazz musician Poncho Sanchez.

Goodjoin estimates that Hope Alive has raised $85,000 to $100,000 for Willard’s music program over the last seven years.

Two-thirds of the proceeds from the concert and donations are given to the school district. The remaining one-third goes into the budget for the Hope Alive concert for the following year, church officials said.

This year’s show, scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday at the Bill Medley Auditorium at Santa Ana High School, will feature about 40 student performers from the middle and high schools, as well as choral members and musicians from New Hope Presbyterian Church. The Spanish guitar-flavored Incendio band will be the special guest. Musical selections for the concert will focus on the sounds of South Africa, Brazil and Argentina.

“It’s a wonderful experience that they can actually learn this kind of music, which is outside their regular school program,” said Lesa Terry, artistic director for Hope Alive. “This concert, with its theme, will open their minds and plant seeds that will later blossom into other ways of thinking. They may get more interest in traveling to these countries where the music is from and just see something bigger for themselves.”

Ammy Beltran, vocal music instructor at Willard, said the music program offers a respite from the youngsters’ sometimes hard everyday lives.

About 99% of the school’s students qualify for a free or discounted lunch, according to Willard’s 2013-14 School Accountability Report Card on the Santa Ana Unified School District website. Beltran added that many of the students’ families share two-bedroom apartments with other families.

The area could also be considered a hotbed for gang violence. Many reviews on Greatschools.org note gang activity in the area.

In April, a man was shot in the legs at North Durant and 15th streets, one block from Willard, according to media reports.

“There are a lot of drugs and gangs in this area, and a lot of families live below the poverty line. For our kids, this is a safe place,” Beltran said of the music program. “It’s somewhere where they can get away from the day-to-day academics and their home lives. It’s something fun for them to do, and no one judges them here.

“They get to excel in something and get a lot of positive praise, which can be rare for them at times. It’s an escape for them.”

Goodjoin added that she believes the music program allows the students to see that their community cares, and the concert, which they have been preparing for since September, is something they look forward to.

“When I know what they go home to and think about this, I know grades go up and opportunity makes a difference,” she said, her eyes appearing to water. “In the face of gang violence, poverty and crowded situations, this is more than an out. Why else would these kids be practicing late on a Sunday other than they need a place to go where they can express themselves?

“It’s some hope to hold onto.”