The Ceres Unified School District held its annual Instrument Expo on Thursday, giving fifth- and sixth-graders a chance to explore instruments available for classroom music instruction.

Elementary music teachers, along with band students from Central Valley and Ceres High, guided students as they tried their first notes on brass, woodwind, string, keyboard, and percussion instruments.

“Our goal is that students will find an instrument they’re excited to play and will keep playing it – through junior high and high school and into college and beyond,” said Erin Balaam, an Educational Services program administrator who oversees the district’s elementary music and P.E. programs. “Music instruction helps students increase confidence, focus, and critical thinking skills, and playing an instrument is something they can enjoy through their lifetime.”

Ceres Unified School District provides instruments at no cost to families and offers music education early on. Studies show that learning music can help students succeed academically because it develops skills that are useful far beyond the music classroom. From kindergarten through fourth grade, students are developing skills such as rhythm, movement, and singing with elementary music teachers who rotate through classrooms. Instruments are introduced in fifth grade and students can join band beginning in the second half of the school year.