Two PALCS seniors say they’ve come out of their shells over the past few years, and the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School’s unique high school music education program is to thank.
Akshaj (AJ) Gupta and Joey Spitaleri both joined PALCS and its performing arts division, the Center for Performing and Fine Arts (CPFA) at the start of eighth grade.
Passion for music
Joey plays six string electric bass, guitar, and drums. He’s also a music instructor at Rockdale Music, teaching younger kids how to play instruments.
AJ plays electric guitar, usually sticking to jazz and a little bit of metal. His first introduction to the music world started with Indian classical singing. AJ, who was born in India and moved to the United States with his family when he was five, took Indian voice lessons in the U.S. for seven years.
Both AJ and Joey have a deep-rooted passion for music. That’s what led them to PALCS and CPFA, which offers smaller class sizes, online and in-person instruction, and multiple extracurricular opportunities in music, dance, and theater.
Thriving socially at PALCS
“Before eighth grade, I didn’t want to talk to anybody,” AJ said. “I was in this shell. I was like ‘oh, what will everybody think?’ Now, with all this experience that I have, I’m like ‘oh, I can talk to people. It’s cool. These people are chill, I can be friends with them.’ Overall, I think my social well-being has improved.”
Joey echoed the same sentiment about how PALCS’s high school music education program has helped him thrive socially.
“Covid definitely affected me hard because I was very introverted already,” Joey said. “And then I just lost my ability to communicate for some reason. I was nearly nonverbal in eighth grade, but in ninth grade I was definitely getting better because I started making friends and people were friendly to me. I realized I didn’t have to be in that shell anymore.”
While PALCS is an online school, some classes at CPFA have an in-person component. That’s how AJ and Joey met and became friends.
Importance of mentorship in music
At CPFA, Joey and AJ were paired with older students in the high school music education program who served as mentors. AJ talks highly of the mentor he was paired with when he was in ninth grade.
“Tommy is an amazing guitarist,” AJ said. “He’s currently at Berklee, he just finished a tour in Europe with Sam Greenfield. I looked up to him, and he taught me a lot of things.”
“It’s like looking up to older siblings,” Joey said about CPFA’s mentorship program. As a senior, he enjoys being able to serve in that mentorship role, leading younger students to improve musically, academically, and personally.
“Younger students in jazz band will send me videos of themselves playing and ask me ‘what can I do better?’ I love that they think that highly of me,” Joey said. “Do I feel like I’m at that level? I don’t know, but I always give the feedback I can, and say ‘this is how I got here, maybe you can try something similar.’”
Multiple opportunities at PALCS
In addition to his involvement at CPFA, AJ is also involved in PALCS’s University Scholars Program. It’s a perfect combination, since AJ wants to double major in mechanical engineering and jazz performance in college.
“I have a physics teacher, Mr. Markward, and he showed me the beauty of physics, and how technical it is, and how it runs the entire universe,” AJ said. “That’s one of the reasons I want to study engineering and jazz performance in college, and not pre-med, which is another interest of mine.”
Individualized attention at PALCS
Students at PALCS get the benefit of attending a smaller school, whether they attend entirely online or as part of the CPFA and USP hybrid programs.
“If you look at any of these other high schools, they don’t give us the same individualized attention that Mr. Townsend gives us through guitar rehearsals,” AJ said. “In those big schools, you don’t get as much attention and guidance as we get through PALCS. It’s really amazing the opportunities we’re getting here.”
A smaller school also nurtures more meaningful, lasting relationships.
“We’re like a little family, “Joey said.
Watch AJ and Joey’s full interview on the Winging It podcast.
