CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield Area School District on Monday night extended its congratulations to its Music Department and a 10th-grade author.
The district has been awarded with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education.
Now in its 24th year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that “demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students.”
To qualify the district answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program and community music-making programs.
Responses were verified by school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
The district was one of 830 school districts—across the country—that received this designation from The NAMM Foundation.
“It’s nice to see the ripple effect,” Superintendent Terry Struble said, noting Clearfield Arts Studio Theatre Inc. also experiences growth from the talents of the students.
Also, the district congratulated 10th-grade student Isaiah Snyder on the publication of his children’s book, “The Rainbow Factory,” through Dorrance Publishing Co., in Pittsburgh.
In the book, little leprechaun Leo is on a mission to fix the missing color rainbow after a big mistake. Snyder illustrated his book as well.
“The Rainbow Factory” encourages children to use their imagination to picture the action and know that anyone can become an author.
Snyder loves to write but when he’s not writing, he enjoys acting on stage and was in the school’s recent production of Mamma Mia!
His other passions are playing the alto and soprano saxophone and cheering on his school as its mascot.
Snyder shared how inspiration for “The Rainbow Factory” came while he was driving in the rain on Interstate 80 back in 2021.
He saw a rainbow while driving over a bridge and thought, “imagine if a little leprechaun worked at a place that made rainbows.”
About a week later, his teacher assigned a project to write a children’s book and “The Rainbow Factory” was brought to life.
“The Rainbow Factory” is available for purchase through Dorrance Publishing’s online book store.
