Jake has a post on his blog about how the Awesome After School Orchestra is needing help:

The Awesome After School Orchestra (AASO) is a great program put on by the Central Oregon Symphony Association and Bend Parks and Recreation and is a great program to introduce your third, fourth, or fifth grade children to the wonderful world of music. The AASO is a long-running after-school program two days a week during the school year where your kid can be introduced to playing string instruments (violin, viola, cello or bass), reading music, and have a great time. There are classes held at both Bear Creek and High Lakes elementary (covering both sides of Bend), and performances will be held through the year. More detailed information can be found on this page of the BP&R guide (the single requisite page hosted here as the full guide is a big download and 90+ pages long).

The problem? The enrollment for the classes is much lower this year than in years past, and there’s a chance that the classes could be dropped entirely if enrollment doesn’t increase before classes start next week. The initial $250 cost is a bit much up front, but think about it: It’s a school-year-long class. It equals out to about $5 per-lesson. Where else are you going to find something so beneficial to your child that will cost that little? You would need to rent an instrument (we have my daughter’s through Just Joe’s, but there are other providers in town, too), though there are some instruments available through Bear Creek’s music program.

Call the Central Oregon Symphony Association at 541.317.3941 (or email symphony {at} bendbroadband {dot} com) or you can sign up by calling Bend Parks and Rec at 541.389.7275 or register online here.

Sounds like a really good program to introduce kids to music and the website additionally lists Pine Ridge Elementary as one of the participating schools.

If your kids (3rd, 4th, or 5th grade) are interested in music then this is definitely something you should look into; I think the (under) $250 fee is a great deal (especially compared to some of the much shorter summertime Parks & Rec programs which cost the same or more).