Lauren Christ, 17, the daughter of Audrey and Mark Christ, Hometown, initiated and taught an after-school percussion ensemble class in the Panther Valley School District. Her students, who came from the elementary and high schools, then gave a performance.

"We worked in the winter on different techniques, and the easy music, and we put on a spring show," she says.The show featured tunes that ranged from simple snare-and-bass drum pieces to the more complex xylophone. Students treated their audience to percussion that evoked sunrise, and of evening settling in.High school Principal Joseph Gunnels has high praise for the project."Lauren Christ did a spectacular job working with students in the Panther Valley School District. She engaged students in playing and performing music on percussion instruments."Lauren's dad serves as the music and band teacher at Panther Valley High School, and it was wonderful having her join her dad instructing music," he says."Lauren comes from a musical family. Her mom and brother have also shared their musical talent with us at Panther Valley. I was so impressed with her organizational skills, and her ability to arrange a group of young musicians without having the benefit of time."She kept up with her own busy schedule and yet found the time to meet with an entirely new group of kids to teach them to perform in a percussion ensemble. It was a nice addition to our school's concert and it was a great supplement to our music program," Gunnels added.Lauren's classmates Shane Mulligan and Karina Derr pitched in to help with the production. Her father, Mark Christ, directs the Panther Valley High School band.The ensemble was composed of about 25 students, and met once a week after school to practice.What did she learn from her project?"How to organize small children, and keep them focused on the music," she says. "I felt my project was beneficial to the students as the elementary music students worked with the high school music students."Percussion ensemble was something brand new to Panther Valley, and the students have asked that we do it again this year culminating again with a concert for the community, family and friends."My project is also sustainable, and that is a requirement of the Gold project, as another Scout can continue with this project in the future. As a mallet percussion player at Tamaqua, I brought my skill and experience to others and had a great time in the process," Lauren says.