One of the goals of Rainbow's End Youth Services (REYS) is to connect students with others in the community. The Mount Joy nonprofit did just that last month when 11 students performed a piano recital at Juniper Village of Mount Joy, 607 Hearthstone Lane.

"It's important that we do things like this because relationships like these allow us to get out into the community, to reach out and to showcase what the kids are doing," said Travis Reish, director of student ministries. "It also gives the kids a goal to strive for with their piano lessons and gives them confidence to perform in front of people."

Most of the students chose their own pieces to perform, said Cristina Paden, executive director of REYS. "Some were contemporary, some were traditional or classical, and one student did a song called 'I Like Bananas,'" she recalled.

The students ranged from second-graders to eighth-graders, and, for most of them, this was their first piano recital. "It was really sweet to see how, at the beginning, the nerves were there, but as the kids started playing and they saw other kids go, and they saw the audience's reaction, that helped them to loosen up a bit more," said Claire Reynolds, communications intern. The students who performed were Marcelina Gendy, Elyse Osei-Manu, Nina Marion, Daniel Sanchez, Rebecca Sanchez, Josabet Ortiz, Isaac Reck, Anavah Viselli, Natalie Ozorles, Selina Ozorles and Nathan Fischer.

This was the first time REYS has done something like this with the retirement community, Reish noted, adding that it's a mutual partnership. "Someone from Juniper Village reached out to us and asked if they could bring a couple of their residents to REYS to serve meals to the kids," he explained. "She mentioned that they had recitals there in the past, and the idea came together for us to do a piano recital."

REYS offers piano instruction four days a week at 105 Fairview St., and there are currently about 24 students in the program. All lessons are free.

Reish remarked that the recital was well received by the audience. "The residents really enjoyed it," he stated. "They were intently listening to a lot of the songs and pieces." He said it went so well, the organization hopes to do another recital in the future, depending on Juniper Village's availability.

"I think the kids were really proud of themselves that they had accomplished their first recital," Reynolds shared. "It was a really great experience all around."