1 of 5
Terrier Band photos by Akron Mom and Kids, provided by St. Sebastian Parish School
2 of 5
Terrier Band photos by Akron Mom and Kids, provided by St. Sebastian Parish School
3 of 5
Terrier Band photos by Akron Mom and Kids, provided by St. Sebastian Parish School
4 of 5
Terrier Band photos by Akron Mom and Kids, provided by St. Sebastian Parish School
5 of 5
Terrier Band photos by Akron Mom and Kids, provided by St. Sebastian Parish School
When St. Sebastian Parish School student Joseph Deagan, then in fifth grade, joined his mom and sister for a meeting with band director Scott Mason, the discussion was initially centered on his sister’s musical interest.
A year younger than Deagan, she wanted to switch from playing the flute to percussion. While there, however, Mason brought up the saxophone — and it piqued Deagan’s interest in learning to play the instrument.
“I ended up joining the band,” says Deagan, a Terrier Band member who is now in eighth grade. “He made it seem like it was something I can definitely accomplish if I put my time into it.”
Mason, also the school’s librarian and the director of the Academy of Culture and Arts at St. Sebastian, asserts that learning an instrument can lead to personal growth.
“I’ve got a young man on saxophone in fourth grade,” Mason says, referencing another band member. “He was very unsure, but then he heard it, he saw that he could do it, and now he’s fantastic.”
The St. Sebastian Terrier Band program — which includes a beginner level for fourth graders, a cadet level for fifth and sixth graders and an advanced level for seventh and eighth graders — allows students to experience different performance styles. From marching in parades to playing at Christmas Eve mass, they perform in both concert band and marching band setups. The practice and performance processes teach teamwork.
“They’re working across different age levels,” Mason says, “to create beauty in something.”
Even performance in other classes can be positively impacted by learning music, says Mason.
“It helps in math in a way, because you’re working with, basically, fractions,” he explains. “You’re also dealing with science, as far as how the sound waves interact, how they’re produced. ... It helps a lot with reading.”
The band also provides students with a social outlet. Deagan says he’s made friends with students in other grades. Now a dedicated band member, he wants to keep playing saxophone. His experiences in the Terrier Band have been fruitful — such as his fifth grade solo. Deagan performed a jazz song Mason composed, “Joe’s Cool Blues.”
“It was like, There’s no way I’m going to be able to do this. It looks so complicated,” Deagan recalls. “By the time we got there, in the spring concert, it was like, Wow, I was able to do that.”