KISS Guitarist Helps Elementary School Students Form School's First Full Band

November 15, 2005

The Oregonian is reporting that KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer presented 12 new musical instruments to the students of Oregon's W.L. Henry Elementary School to boost the school's band program from three members who provide their own instruments — two clarinets and a flute — to a full-force 15-piece ensemble.

"It's near and dear to my heart because it's where I started," Thayer said Thursday (Nov. 10) of school band programs. "It worked for me."

Thayer, who grew up in Cedar Hills, where his parents Jim and Pat Thayer still live, played the saxophone at Sunset High School. He also learned the guitar and eventually took over for original KISS member Ace "The Spaceman" Frehley.

For the past few months, Thayer has been rediscovering his Oregon roots: He was recently elected to Pacific University's board of trustees, is building a house at the Oregon Coast and has donated money to Sunset High.

Thayer met W.L. Henry Principal Enedelia Schofield at a recent administrative retreat for Pacific University in Forest Grove. She mentioned to him that the school has never had a full band.

The 620-student elementary school has the second-highest poverty rate in the district: 90 percent of its students receive free or reduced-price lunches.

"A lot of our students have a lack of role models (for music education)," Schofield said. "They don't have the exposure to music. Music could be the key to their success."

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