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Lower Merion School District

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SPIES and ESY Students Enjoy The Sounds of Philadelphia

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SPIES and ESY Students Enjoy The Sounds of Philadelphia
A collage of four photos of students in auditorium seats clapping with staff and of musicians on stage

Students attending the SPIES (Succeed, Progress, Improve, Enjoy your Summer) and ESY (Extended School Year) programs at Penn Valley Elementary School this summer enjoyed a musical treat on Thursday, July 23, 2026.

The band Swift Technique, including LMSD building substitute Jake Leschinsky on bass, played some of the best-known songs from "The Sound of Philadelphia" along with The Roots. The songs all had positive messages about loving one another and showing kindness.  

The students asked and answered questions about the band's various instruments, clapped and thoroughly enjoyed the concert. 

As a special surprise at the end of the morning, staff members and students paid tribute to SPIES and Merion Elementary teacher Jacqueline Gaines, who has been a part of the SPIES program since 1994 and will be retiring from teaching at the end of this summer's session.

One of Ms. Gaines's former first-grade students who is now in college presented her with a candle for shining her light on so many students. 

You can see photos from this very special morning in the slide show below. 

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A female singer in sparkly pants and a man in a colorful shirt playing the saxophone perform on a stage with purple curtains in the background.
Children in a classroom sit attentively in rows of chairs, with some looking forward and others to the side.
Children and adults sit in chairs in the foreground, facing an unseen stage, while more people are seated in the background in a large room with windows.
A man in a hat and a purple shirt plays a wind instrument on stage, with musical equipment and a curtain in the background.
A young boy in a wheelchair and a girl in pink shorts sit in the foreground, while a diverse audience watches something in the background.
Four musicians play instruments on a wooden stage in front of a backdrop of warm-toned curtains and white panels.
A diverse group of children and adults are seated in bleachers, with some children raising their hands in the foreground and a blue wall with a banner in the background.
Children in the foreground clap their hands while an audience watches in the background.
Children in the foreground, one in a wheelchair, watch an event in an auditorium with adults seated behind them.
Children and adults are seated in rows, clapping their hands, with a woman in a blue dress standing and gesturing in the background.
Children and adults sit in rows of seats, with a young girl in a pink hoodie in the foreground and a blurred audience in the background.
A woman assists a young boy in a wheelchair in the foreground, while an audience sits in the background.
Three people are seated in front of a blue chalkboard, with the woman in the back looking surprised and holding a piece of paper.
A group of people, including children and adults, are seated in an auditorium with a man in a red shirt standing in the background.
A woman in a red and white shirt gestures with her hands in the foreground, while a group of children in red shirts watch something in the background.
A band performs on a stage with a female singer in the foreground, while an audience watches from below in the background.
A band performs on a stage with orange curtains in the background, while a large audience of children sits in the foreground.
A band performs on a stage with a drummer, guitarist, saxophonist, and singer in the foreground, while an audience watches from the background.
In the foreground, two women are holding a large stuffed object, while in the background, three other women stand watching.
A woman in a striped shirt and red pants sits holding a fluffy white blanket, with a piano and a large wooden crate in the background.
Two women stand at a microphone in front of a blue curtain and a metal pole.
A woman in a striped shirt and red pants receives a book from a boy in a red hoodie and baseball cap, with a staircase in the background.
In the foreground, a young boy offers a drink to an older woman sitting in a chair, while in the background, other people stand holding papers near a staircase and a blue wall.
A young girl in a yellow shirt hands a book to an older woman in a striped shirt sitting in the foreground, with a blue wall and metal stairs in the background.
A younger woman in a white t-shirt and jeans comforts an older woman in a striped shirt and red pants who is crying, with a wooden piano and stairs visible in the background.
A woman in a striped shirt and red pants holds a bouquet of pink flowers in front of a wooden piano.
A man in a red Phillies shirt and jeans holds a microphone and a paper in his raised hand, while two women stand behind him in front of a blue curtain and a beige wall.
A group of women stand on a stage holding papers, with a woman seated in the foreground and a blue curtain and gymnasium in the background.
A woman in a light blue t-shirt and white pants speaks into a microphone in the foreground, while another woman in a red shirt stands behind her holding papers.
A group of adults and children pose for a photo in a school hallway, with a large box and a seated woman in the foreground and a staircase and lockers in the background.

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