Teen's project is music to school teacher's ears

Julia Freire combined her love of scouting and music to create a project that earned her the highest honor in Girl Scouting, the Gold Award.

To earn her Girl Scout Gold Award, Julia Freire, 16, collected and cleaned more than 100 recorders and then donated them to the Ella G. Clarke School in Lakewood. The school's music teacher, Samuel Salguero, gratefully accepted Julia's donation of the instruments. "For my Gold Award project, I wanted to give something back to the community and have children experience music," said Julia, 16, who has just completed her junior year at Freehold Township High School.

Julia's project included collecting and sterilizing 103 recorders, a type of flute, and donating them to the Ella G. Clarke Elementary School, Lakewood, in March. The two-month project involved creating fliers and distributing them, and advertising in local newspapers and on a local television channel.

"At first I wanted to collect different types of instruments," said Julia, a Senior Scout member of Troop 765. "But there was a storage problem plus the expense of repairing them."

The idea for the project originated with the fact that she had three recorders that were not in use, and she thought other people might have unused recorders, too.

"After about the third or fourth grades you don't use the recorders in school," said Julia, who has studied piano for 11 years and is a member of the National Guild for Musicians. Also, she was the lead in "Peter Pan" in the March musical at Freehold Township High School.

Working with her adviser, Ed Gattsek, who is the Freehold Township band director, Julia began to gather the recorders from residents and students. She credits Erin Kilduff, a teacher at the West Freehold School, Freehold Township, for collecting about 30 recorders.

Julia also enlisted the aid of members of Girl Scout Cadette Troop 1941 to help disinfect the plastic instruments with a mild bleach solution. Then, as part of her project, she helped the younger girls complete an Interest Project patch called "On a High Note."

"I've enjoyed every minute of this project," said Julia, who intends to continue in scouting during her senior year of high school. "I like the experience of helping others."

Before starting the project, Julia contacted David Weintraub, the Lakewood School District director of Community School and Fine Arts, to find a school that could use the recorders. He referred her to the Clarke School and to Samuel Salguero, the school's music teacher.

"Julia really helped save the music program here," said Salguero, who has been teaching music for eight years and is completing his first year at the Clarke School. "There was no money in the budget for recorders. Now, about 100 fourth-grade students are introduced to the world of music."

Salguero explained that learning music on a recorder is the first step in preparation for instruments such as brass or woodwinds. Recorders, he said, form the basis of a music program and the donated recorders were used in a music workshop.

"Julia did a wonderful job and has a heart of gold to help others," said Salguero, who has a Bachelor of Arts in music from Rutgers University. "I was touched and surprised that people from another school district helped our school. I hope she and others will come to our school concert next year and hear the result of their generosity."

Julia received her Gold Award from the Girl Scout Council of the Jersey Shore at a ceremony at the Woodlake Country Club, Lakewood, May 19. She was one of 42 recipients, including Victoria Hu, a member of her troop, who created a cultural diversity fair to earn her Gold Award.

Julia's Scout leader is Sue Hu, and Linda Klose was her liaison from the Jersey Shore Girl Scout Council. Troop 765 Senior Girl Scouts who assisted in Julia's project included Christina Codispoti, Amy Bennett and Kim Tran, all Freehold Township residents.

Julia resides in Freehold Township with her parents, Betty and John, and her brother, Andrew, 12.