Community Service Projects and Opportunities

Besides giving you opportunities to perform, a Tri-M chapter also allows you to lead and grow and flourish in other ways. Especially through community service. The list below has some ideas for service projects, but keep in mind that the relationship between a school and its community is unique, so there may well be special opportunities to serve that are not on the list.

photo of high school teens engaged in community service, picking up trash and cleaning up a local river and park.

Announcing the first ever, nationwide service project:

The Happy Birthday Project

The “Happy Birthday Project” encourages creativity and individuality, while giving back in the community. Each student or small ensemble performs a recording of themselves wishing someone in a care facility, “Happy Birthday,” through singing, playing their instrument, or other type of performance! Created by Tina Bennett, she walks us through step-by-step how to plan and execute this heart-warming service project.

Event Ideas

  • Trunk or Treat in the high school or community parking lot
  • Perform the National Anthem or participate in a local 5K or Relay for Life event
  • Car wash fundraiser
  • Teacher appreciation event
  • Silent auction fundraiser
  • Karaoke night/Jam Session
  • Music Trivia night
  • Haunted High School
  • Host a music festival with other neighboring schools
  • Breakfast with Santa/Easter Bunny/Leprechaun
  • Holiday caroling
  • Penny Sale/Auction
  • Arts Auction – Auction off performances, visual art pieces, culinary
  • Host auditions for a mentoring event that results in an evening concert
  • School dance with live performances
  • Workshops that feature: instruction on improv, speaker from professional performer, instruction on composition software, preparation for auditions
  • Dinner and a Movie
  • Adopt a Family concert fundraiser
  • Veterans Day Concert, featuring patriotic pieces
  • Holiday lighting ceremony for the community
  • Skate night fundraiser
  • Pot-luck dinner and a show
  • Carnival – featuring games, cotton candy, popcorn, activity tables
  • Halloween costume contest
  • High school’s own Solo and Ensemble Festival
  • Musical sing a long
  • Practice-a-Thon
  • Perform in common areas or local mall during the holidays
  • A concert premiering new pieces by local composers
  • School Jazz Night
  • Organize a Sponsored Walkathon
  • Enlist Local Musicians and School Ensembles to Host a Benefit Concert
  • Canned Food Drive Concert
  • Host a “Your School Name Idol” Talent Show
  • Acoustic Cafe
  • Winter Coffeehouse
  • Partner with local businesses to advertise upcoming musical events and projects

Fundraiser / Drive Ideas

  • Car wash fundraiser
  • Pay to play a song on the morning announcements
  • Collect soda tabs for the Ronald McDonald House
  • Clothing drive
  • Toys for Tots drive
  • Silent auction fundraiser
  • Toiletries drive
  • Haunted High School
  • Spare Change/Coin drive between classes/grade levels
  • Penny Sale/Auction
  • Food Pantry for students
  • Arts Auction – Auction off performances, visual art pieces, culinary
  • Work with a local radio station to hold a fundraiser or community event
  • Adopt a Family concert fundraiser
  • Skate night fundraiser
  • Pot-luck dinner and a show
  • Make blankets for a nursing home or the homeless
  • Pre-packaged meals for families
  • Carnival – featuring games, cotton candy, popcorn, activity tables
  • Valentine’s day flower sale before and after school, and during lunch
  • Musical Stickers for sale
  • Tri-M&Ms – fundraiser selling M&Ms
  • Practice-a-Thon
  • Kindness Week – selling candy grams with words of encouragement to classmates
  • Lunch time music – students pay to hear songs played in the cafeteria during lunch
  • Enlist Local Musicians and School Ensembles to Host a Benefit Concert
  • Canned Food Drive Concert
  • Dinner Theatre Production
  • “Crush Grams” Valentine’s Day Music Grams
  • Instrument donation drive
  • Flower or bake sale at performances

Music In Our Schools Month Ideas

  • Learn more about Music In Our Schools Month
  • MIOSM Spirit Week
  • Door decorating contest
  • Guess That Song
  • Music interviews pertaining to the year’s theme. Play during morning announcements
  • Promote MIOSM on school’s social media page
  • Highlight a musician a day/week. Professional, teacher, administrator, janitor, or student!
  • Music In The Halls. Students donate to get a song played in between classes
  • Music Mondays. Feature a musical fact every Monday during March
  • History of Music timeline in the main hall
  • Musical sing along
  • Spirit Week, wear your favorite band, artist shirt
  • Incorporate “music history tidbits” in your school’s daily announcement

Service Project Ideas

  • Perform the National Anthem or participate in a local 5K or Relay for Life event
  • Karaoke night/Jam Session
  • Joint projects with other organizations within your school. Example: Spanish National Honor Society puts together presentation about history of Spanish language while Tri-M group plays historical Spanish music
  • Host a music festival with other neighboring schools
  • Performances for other honor societies or clubs
  • School dance with live performances
  • Adopt a Family concert fundraiser
  • Veterans Day Concert, featuring patriotic pieces
  • Holiday lighting ceremony for the community
  • High school’s own Solo and Ensemble Festival
  • Lobby music – perform in the mornings in the main lobby
  • Practice-a-Thon
  • Perform in common areas or local mall during the holidays
  • A concert premiering new pieces by local composers
  • Back to School Night Performance
  • School Jazz Night
  • Enlist Local Musicians and School Ensembles to Host a Benefit Concert
  • Host a “Your School Name Idol” Talent Show
  • Dinner Theatre Production
  • Student Performances at Local Nursing Homes/Assisted Living Centers/Police Departments/Fire Departments/Community Centers/Hospitals/Elementary Schools
  • “Crush Grams” Valentine’s Day Music Grams

More Service Project Ideas

  • Serve as Director Assistants
  • Volunteer at a gift wrap booth during the holidays
  • Trunk or Treat in the high school or community parking lot
  • Collect cards for service members or veterans
  • Manage your school’s music library and instrument inventory/maintenance
  • Teacher appreciation event
  • Pen pal letters to ensemble students in feeder schools
  • Door decorating contest
  • Haunted High School
  • Joint projects with other organizations within your school. Example: Spanish National Honor Society puts together presentation about history of Spanish language while Tri-M group plays historical Spanish music
  • Host a music festival with other neighboring schools
  • Holiday caroling
  • Create lesson plans and hold classes for Pre-K or Elementary Students
  • Food Pantry for students
  • Manage the school’s or the arts department’s social media pages
  • Host auditions for a mentoring event that results in an evening concert
  • Working with special education students to perform in a choir
  • Parents Ensemble – teach your parents how to play your instrument!
  • Community Choir
  • Pot-luck dinner and a show
  • Make blankets for a nursing home or the homeless
  • Pre-packaged meals for families
  • Clean the music rooms – make it a competition!
  • Carnival – featuring games, cotton candy, popcorn, activity tables
  • Start a scholarship program within your chapter
  • Musical Notes – write notes of kindness to teachers, administrators, janitors
  • Volunteer at a soup kitchen
  • Kindness Week – selling candy grams with words of encouragement to classmates
  • Community clean up/beautification – Adopt a Highway
  • Create pocket cards for elementary students with musical terms and definitions
  • Set up a Music Tutoring Program
  • Instrument Petting Zoo
  • Organize a Sponsored Walkathon
  • Volunteer to work at County/District/State Auditions
  • Dinner Theatre Production
  • Student Performances at Local Nursing Homes/Assisted Living Centers/Police Departments/Fire Departments/Community Centers/Hospitals/Elementary Schools
  • Raise money for iPods, and create playlists for Alzheimer’s patients
  • Host a reception at Parent/Teacher Night or at an Open House event
  • Act as Concert Ushers for School Performances
  • Incorporate “music history tidbits” in your school’s daily announcements
  • Give music lessons at local group homes, orphanages, or retirement homes
  • Usher, prepare sets, costumes, programs, and collect tickets at community concerts, theater shows, or festivals
  • Assist young Girl Scouts/Boy Scouts with earning their music badges
  • Instrument donation drive

The Happy Birthday Project

The “Happy Birthday Project” was created by Tina Bennett, NAfME Music Honor Society Advisory Council, Member-at-Large. For questions about this project, please email us at Tri-M@nafme.org.

GENERAL PROJECT OVERVIEW:

This project provides a community service for your students to connect with your local senior citizens/senior care facilities. Students can do this individually or in small groups.

 

GETTING STARTED:

  1. Identify local senior care facilities. This can be done by a Google search. I also suggest asking students if they have any family members in care facilities. Having a personal connection may encourage the students to participate.
  2. Call or email the facility and connect with the Activities Director.
    • Explain the overview of the project.
      Example Script: “Hello, my name is Mrs. Bennett, and I am the Choral Director of the Clarion-Limestone School District. Since Covid has prevented me from taking my choir into Senior Facilities, I am reaching out to offer a remote opportunity to your residents. This project is called the “Happy Birthday Project.” What we are offering is a personal video for your resident provided by my students. This video would be my student singing/playing happy birthday to your resident, along with positive messages, and a small introductory statement about the child who is performing the song. We would need the First name, and birthdate and year of your resident for our students to begin recording, we would send these to you in digital form for you to play on a computer for the resident on their birthday. Would this be something you would be interested in?”
  3. Once you establish communication with the Activities Director, you then need to get the names and organize the students into calendar form. You can either go month-by-month, or have all the students do it at the same time and send it. I suggest getting it all done at once; have the kids all get their video completed together. This becomes a group/individual project that the students focus on together and allows you to give deadlines.
    • You will have a video of each student singing/playing that you can use to grade or evaluate their performance. This becomes less stressful for the students, and a win-win for you to listen to each student and do a community service and accomplish a standard all at the same time.
    • NOTE: I suggest that any resident turning 100 or over gets the entire ensemble. They deserve it. Have the kids dress up, or record it the night of a concert, but you need to make a big deal out of that birthday.

 

GUIDELINES FOR THE VIDEO AND RECORDING TIPS:

  • You may use your smart phone but place it sideways to record.
  • Record a sample video first. View the video looking at your appearance. You should have clothes that cover your undergarments and your body. Style your hair so the resident can see your face, and refrain from political/vulgar/alcohol type shirts. Wearing tops that have little or no writing/pictures allows the resident to focus on you, and not your clothes. Senior citizens are like young children, can get very distracted by busy designs.
  • Check your background. If you record in your room, use a blank wall, or a plain door for the same reason stated above. If you love your garage, and ride four-wheelers, record there. You may want to go outside to record. Many of these residents do not get to go outside. If you are an outdoor type of person, record in your favorite spot outside and share it with your resident. Many of them love the outdoors too. Make sure the outside environment is quiet and the wind does not distort the recording.
  • You can take them to other meaningful places. Consider the acoustics, and if the buildings are beautifully decorated.
  • You can make signs, blow up balloons, dress festive with hats and noise makers.
  • Be joyful and speak loud and clear, and not too fast. Hearing is an issue. Be aware of distracting background noise.
    • Sample Statement: “Hello, my name is Tina, and I’m a senior at Clarion-Limestone High School. I participate in Choir, Band and Marching Band, and Jazz band, as well as the musicals. I play volleyball, and I am a Cheerleader and a majorette in the Marching Band. I am one of 5 children in my family, and I am active in my community. I love to hang out with my friends, and I love musical theater. I hope to graduate and go to college, but I am not sure what I want to study yet. Enough about me, I hear it’s your birthday! You are 89 today. That’s terrific! My Grandma is 92 and my Papa will be 97 in April. I want to help you celebrate by singing/playing happy birthday to you.”
  • Sing/Play Happy Birthday. Be joyful and energetic. Perform the song loud and with passion. You can use a karaoke back track, play it on your instrument, anything!
  • Watch the video, check for any issues and that you can be heard clearly. Label the video with the residents Name and Birthdate. Once you have your video ready, you’ll need to send it to your teacher.
  • The most important thing is to have a video that looks good for your resident.

 

COLLECTING THE VIDEOS:

  1. Give the students no more than 2 weeks to complete the project. Any longer will draw it out too long. Collect all the videos and send them together.
  2. Organize the videos by Month. Use a master folder and within that folder have 12 folders listed by month. In each month title each video by date. This will allow the director to find the videos easily.
    • You can have a class officer(s) help with the organizing of the videos. Split them by calendar quarters and share a document that each officer can organize from their own computer.
    • Make sure the officers watch all the videos checking for any issues. Students should bring any issues to the teacher’s attention that can be addressed.
    • OPTIONAL: Once everything is organized and vetted by the students, the director can (if they choose) use these videos for a class grade using the rubric of their choice. You can give feedback etc. This is a flexible part of the project.

 

FOLLOW-UP:

  • Once you send the videos off to the facility, follow up with the director. You may receive emails, thank you cards etc. Share these with your students, administration and the public. This is a terrific way to promote your program and create a community service project as well.

 

COMMENTS FROM TINA:

This could be an annual project that you do every year. You can either shift the residents around or give the students the same ones. You can use different facilities; you make it what you want.

Another possibility would be for you to expand this to small ensembles. Use small groups of students to prepare and record different songs example, Christmas songs (I had students do One Sacred, one secular, and one up-beat fun song. ) this could be sent to a group of residents and again become a graded or evaluated project if you wish. The future possibilities are endless. You could even transition into going to the facility (if possible) to perform love for the residents.

This project is an amazing opportunity for your students to connect with older adults, and a way to give back to the generation that inspired so many.

Liability for Chapter Activities

Tri-M chapters are encouraged to have meetings, activities, and events, but liability for any gathering under the Tri-M name rests with the Tri-M chapter's school. That school is expected to have appropriate and sufficient levels of insurance to protect everyone involved in any Tri-M event for acts, omission, and injuries arising directly or indirectly from their operations.

Tri-M chapters cannot make the Tri-M Music Honor Society and NAfME an agent, legal representative, subsidiary, joint venture associate, partner, employee, servant, or similar entity for any purpose whatsoever.

Tri-M chapters are not authorized to make any contract, agreement, warranty, or representation or to incur any debt or obligation on behalf of or in the name of the Tri-M Music Honor Society or NAfME or obligate NAfME in any way without express written consent from the Tri-M Music Honor Society and NAfME.

If there is a gathering of Tri-M chapters or Tri-M members for any reason, liability for that gathering shall be the responsibility of the host, whether that host is a school, a NAfME-federated affiliate conference, or other entity, and sufficient levels of insurance to protect everyone involved for acts, omission, and injuries arising directly or indirectly from their operations are the responsibility of that host organization.

The Tri-M Music Honor Society and NAfME accept no liability for any actions of a Tri-M chapter or Tri-M gathering without express written consent from the Tri-M Music Honor Society and NAfME.

Download a PDF of the Event Responsibility Form.