OLD TOWN — As a third-grader at Franklin Fine Arts Center, Jasmine Thomas remembers being in awe of older kids who performed at the school's annual piano recital.
"I thought, 'That's so cool!,'" Jasmine said. "When I actually got into it, it was harder. But I kept going. I wanted to get a chance to play in the recital."
Jasmine Thomas, 13, plays the piano at Franklin. [All photos DNAinfo/Mina Bloom]
Piano recital at Franklin Fine Arts Center. #oldtown @DNAinfoCHI pic.twitter.com/1jkDpgvkMf
— Mina Bloom (@mina_bloom_) April 6, 2016
Now 13, Jasmine is one of those kids she admired.
She was among the students who performed at this year's recital Wednesday afternoon at the Old Town magnet school, 225 W. Evergreen Ave. Students played pieces like "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong to "Linus And Lucy" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
"When you're up there playing, you get nervous and you can feel all the eyes staring at you, and then it's all quiet until you start playing ... It's a good experience," Jasmine said after the show.
Jasmine, who commutes from her home in Auburn Gresham to the Old Town school, said she probably wouldn't have learned how to play the piano if not for Franklin.
According to the school's interim principal Elena Savoy, Jasmine is not alone.
"A lot of [the students] would never have had any exposure to music lessons ... never mind not being able to afford the instrument," Savoy said.
Many of the students end up loving to play the piano so much that they practice during recess, according to Brian Santos, who has been teaching piano at the school for 11 years.
"They always surprise me with how much they rise to the challenge," he said.
Franklin students performing at the recital Wednesday.
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