Second graders in Rachel White’s music class at Sycamore Avenue Elementary School are busy year-round, spreading song around their school and community. The students perform at the school’s monthly PTA meetings and also visit their “grandfriends” across the street at The Arbors Assisted Living Communities at Bohemia every month or two.

White refers to all of these performances as “informances,” to suggest those which are informal and informative. According to her, “we do not look for perfection, but seek to teach about what we do in music class. Students sing, play instruments and dance, all of which are things we do every week.” In fact, the students’ “grandfriends” visit the school once a week to join in the fun of music class with the children.

At the February PTA meeting, the second graders dazzled their proud parents with Valentine’s Day songs and poems, a song about Martin Luther King Jr., and a seasonal suite of folk tunes. The next week, on Valentine’s Day, they crossed the street to The Arbors to offer their “grandfriends” the same repertoire, along with handmade Valentine’s Day cards.