Tri-M’s Redefinition

Tri-M, the musical honors society here at STHS, has made some great changes this year. The past few years have been hard for the club as both membership and service opportunities dropped, mainly impacted by Covid-19. This year however, the club leaders, Gabby Greene, Sam Klein, Thomas Hasty, and Kaden Brunner, made a couple of meaningful changes so that the club can better live up to its purpose.  

Greene, Tri-M Co-President, says that a part of Tri-M’s motto is that the members are dedicated to service and that she didn’t want the club to feel so prestigious and exclusive if they weren’t living up to their purpose. “It’s a group of the most talented singers and musicians at our school, but we’re not really doing anything if we’re not using those talents to give back.”

The student leaders and advisors, Mr. Puntel and Mr. Gottesman, wanted the club to better reflect the founding purpose which was to enrich the community around them with music and for music students to become involved in the community. This year, as Kaden Brunner summarizes, “we’re looking to better involve Tri-M students in the school and the larger community.” 

Traditionally, there was one main service opportunity for the entire year: performing at Stag and Doe nights at Chestnut Hill. However, this year, due to great effort, Gabby Greene notes that the “service opportunities are expanding” and members are now required to take part in a service activity every marking period. 

Last semester, members of Tri-M traveled to Enfield and read for the second graders. Participants noted that it was a fun and rewarding experience and something that they intend on repeating in the future. 

Additionally, Tri-M isn’t a homeroom this year which was a big part of the group in years prior. The presidents have still been hard at work trying to “bring the community back to the club.” Hasty reports that they have hosted weekly meetings with pizza to help the group bond. Additionally, Gabby says that having more service opportunities has “kept students involved throughout the year” because previously, “students got in and were supposed to have this close bond despite having limited interactions all year.”

With only two concerts throughout the year, students in the various choruses and bands that we have at our school don’t have a whole lot of opportunities to practice their skills. These opportunities, Greene says “allow for students to not only hone in on their talents but also create connections so that in the future, they have the ability to perform outside of school.”

President Kaden Brunner says that he personally was motivated by his desire to help people express their love for music and to show what amazing musical talent they have.

As this semester encapsulates the holidays, most of the service opportunities this semester involve spreading holiday cheer. Students will be again caroling at Chestnut Hill but several events are coming up including a performance at a Face to Face event and to the Springfield Rotary Club. Tri-M students even performed at the Holiday Parade at Chestnut Hill on the 10th.

These new changes were all made to better structure the club towards service and music enrichment, something the presidents are all excited for. Greene notes that “it’s just been fun giving back to the community and that’s really what Tri-M is all about!”

Brunner wants to “set the group up so that in the future, Tri-M can still be helping to get people out there and pursue their passion for music.” By reshaping the group this year, he hopes that the group will continue towards fulfilling its purpose and by doing so, encourage others to join and inspire a love of music into STHS. 

Tri-M has become less and less active over the years, in large part due to Covid. However, due to these new bold advancements, the group has grown closer and has been able to better serve the surrounding community.