Champion Bay High School string program secures funding for violins after using teacher’s own instruments

After putting his own $20,000 violin in the hands of a Year 7 student, Champion Bay Senior High School music teacher Harry Pickett has helped grow a string ensemble from the ground up, securing funding with help from the P&C committee. The group of seven students includes violinists Lola Warburton, Emily O’Brien, Mariah Teio, Kiara O’Leary, Seth Kersting and Nyssa Coffey, joined by cellist Tobi Williams. Mr Pickett conceived the idea when he returned from teaching in Arizona earlier in the year. “My school was classified as a level 3 school, meaning most of the students and parents were significantly below the poverty line,” he said. “These same students deserve every opportunity to excel. A string orchestra group is seen as something that only the wealthy private schools in Perth can have. I asked myself, why can’t my students have this fantastic experience?” The group began rehearsing in term 1, using Mr Pickett’s personal instruments he had at home, including a violin worth $20,000. Mr Pickett presented a video of the students explaining what the group meant to them, to the schools P&C committee and were able to secure funding to buy their own instruments. It was the first time many of the students had played violin, including 12-year-old Mariah Teio, who said she had always been interested in learning but the cost of lessons was an obstacle. The end goal is to be able to grow the string ensemble to 30 students, and combine the brass, woodwind and percussion sections of the school’s concert band to form an orchestra.