Her brother, Andrew, a soon-to-be seventh grader at South, plays the saxophone and likes using the summer program as a review course. “Usually I forget how to read notes and my scales and everything,” he said, “so this refreshes my memory.”

Creegan attended the summer music program while he was a student at Wheeler Avenue and through his time at Memorial Junior High School and Central High. He said he can notice a difference in students during the summer as opposed to the school year. Because there is not a concert to prepare for or test being administered, they can just focus on the music.

“It’s good for the older kids because they’re not putting the instruments down for three months,” he said. “It gets them to keep playing and they’re doing it just for fun.”

Creegan noted that many school districts do not offer a program like this anymore and said it’s important to keep it running.

“It’s good to see kids work for nothing other than the satisfaction of just achieving something for themselves,” he said.