“We Will”: Bringing a School and Community Together in the Face of Traumatic Events

“We Will”

Bringing a School and Community Together in the Face of Traumatic Events through the Power of Music 

By NAfME Member Joseph (Joey) Giangreco

“We’ll move on, we’ll go stronger, we will sing another song, we will dream of a promise that will bring a brighter day.” – From the piece “We Will” by Jim Papoulis

Our Story

Over the past three years, The Sanibel School community has suffered devastation from four powerful hurricanes: Ian, Idalia, Helene, and Milton. Families have lost their homes and worldly belongings while experiencing ongoing trauma from devastation. Our school campus suffered severe damage twice, forcing the temporary relocation of our classes to San Carlos Elementary School for Hurricane Ian and Heights Elementary School for Hurricane Milton.

In the face of it all, our music department at The Sanibel School under the direction of Mr. Joey Giangreco (Music Director) has helped to bring our school and community together:

We presented our annual K-8 Holiday Program immediately following Hurricane Ian in 2022. Although our campus was still being repaired from storm damage, we hosted the program at South Fort Myers High School. This program was the first time since the storm that our students and families were able to be together in celebration. It was healing and inspiring for all to experience uplifting and joyful music.

• We partnered with the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools to sponsor the cost of performance attire for all performing students for families who lost everything in the storm.

Seahorse Chorale continued with its annual performance trip to Walt Disney World two months after Hurricane Ian in December 2022. Although many of the students in the ensemble were still experiencing significant loss and trauma from the storm, we wanted to keep this planned trip in place for our students. Especially in this time of devastation and uncertainty, we wanted to provide something positive and exciting for the students to look forward to. With the help of the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools for the cost of bus transportation and performance attire we lost in the storm, this trip became a reality. When we arrived in Disney World for our performance that year, the looks of joy and excitement on the students’ faces said it all. They were so proud of their performance, but also excited to experience something “normal” in the face of the trauma they continued to experience at home. Continuing with this performance trip made all the difference in the lives of each student.

In April 2024, our middle school choir, Seahorse Chorale, was selected by Troen Student Performance Events to perform at one of the most prestigious venues anywhere in the world: Carnegie Hall in New York City. This once-in-a-lifetime experience not only excited our students, but excited the Sanibel and Fort Myers community as well. In order to make this trip possible for our students whose families were still recovering from Hurricanes Ian and Idalia, we shared our Big Apple Dreams with local businesses and organizations, and they helped to make this a reality:

• FISH of SANCAP – Helped to sponsor student trip costs
• Bailey’s General Store – Sponsored apple pies for our Big Apple Pie Sale fundraiser, even though their store was destroyed from Hurricane Ian
• Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club and Foundation for Lee County Schools – Provided $5000 and $1500 grants, respectively, toward trip costs
• Charitable Foundation for the Islands – Helped facilitate a $20,000 matching donation from an anonymous donor
• Farmer Mikes U Pick of Fort Myers – Sponsored a promotion table for our trip to help generate excitement and donations for Carnegie Hall
• Point Ybel Brewing, The Shack of Sanibel, and Bucketts Wings and More – Sponsored Give Back Days to help support our students
• Captiva Civic Association – Helped facilitate our Mystery Gift Box fundraiser
• Bank of the Islands – Sponsored a location for our students to host car wash fundraisers

Seahorse Chorale rehearsing on the Carnegie Hall stage before their big performance on April 1, 2024

Seahorse Chorale performing at Carnegie Hall

Following Hurricane Milton in 2024, we continued to host both our annual Veterans Day Program and Music Showcase at Heights Elementary. Learning from the importance of hosting the Holiday Program after Ian in 2022, we knew that continuing these programs was a must to help heal our school and community. This in fact was true, as the Veterans Day Program provided the first opportunity all students K-8 were able to gather together as a school community, while the Music Showcase was the first opportunity families had after Milton to be a part of our school community. With our theme of “Made In America,” all were inspired by American music and were affirmed of the strength that we have.

In March 2025, Seahorse Chorale was provided an opportunity to perform in Nashville, Tennessee! We performed at the Grand Ole Opry and participated in a recording session in the historic RCA Studio B. Taking place only months after Hurricane Milton, our community again came together to make this trip a reality for our students and families still in recovery:

• “Boops” by The Bubble Room, The Bubble Room Emporium, Chocolattes, and Point Ybel Brewing – Sponsored Give Back Days to help support our students
• Foundation for Lee County Schools – Provided $1500 grant toward trip costs
• FISH of SANCAP – Helped to sponsor student trip costs
• Bank of the Islands – Sponsored a location for our students to host car wash fundraisers

We came out of each storm stronger than we were before with music serving as the light toward a “brighter day.”

Strategies to Help Schools Faced with Traumatic Events

Through our experiences living through four traumatic hurricanes, we have learned strategies that we would like to share to help others who are or may go through traumatic events within their school and/or community.

• Your school’s music department is the most powerful tool to bring your community together. Music can heal, inspire, and bring joy to not only your students, but to their families and community at large. Know that music teachers and directors have the power to make an impactful difference!
• Choose repertoire that is joyful, uplifting, and inspiring. Don’t focus on the heartbreak and devastation of what occurred, but on the strength and better and brighter days that are ahead.
• Make an effort to perform! Perform for your school community and community at large. Performances are powerful ways to bring people together.
• When students return to school from a traumatic event, have them work toward an exciting goal that lies in the near future. Having this exciting goal to work toward helps them focus on something positive and is a powerful and important part of their healing process.
• Continue to maintain a safe place for your students no matter what structure you are in while still maintaining high standards and boundaries. The music classroom is a place where students have the freedom to be creative and express themselves, while finding or reconnecting with their self-confidence. In times of trauma and instability, the music classroom can be one of the only environments where students can feel stable and safe.
• Reach out to and partner with local businesses and organizations around your community. Together, you can create opportunities to come together as a community while inspiring and re-exciting people toward wonderful new opportunities ahead.

Impacts We Saw from the Power of Music at The Sanibel School

The music department at The Sanibel School has been an inspiring force for the school community. Under the direction of Mr. Joey Giangreco, the music department has made lasting differences that have made positive impacts on the school and community.

• Over 1/3 of our middle school student population has participated in The Sanibel School music department. Students long for a place where they can express themselves and feel empowered. In the face of trauma, students have found this place in our music department.
• Seahorse Chorale received a rating of GOLD for their performance at Carnegie Hall in April 2024 and an overall Superior rating for the first time ever at MPA’s in March 2025.
• Audience support has increased for our musical productions following Hurricane Ian. Our show in May 2023 immediately after Hurricane Ian, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr., showed an incredible audience turnout. Due to this, we increased the number of performances we had from two shows to three shows for our next production, Mary Poppins Jr. in 2024. The size of our audience continued to grow through all 3 shows in this year’s production of Newsies Jr.
• When school enrollment goes down after a natural disaster or traumatic event, the positivity and exciting opportunities taking place in the music department can bring students back or encourage students to stay at the school. We had many students and their families choose to stay at the school so they could be a part of our music department and participate in the exciting performances and opportunities we provide to our students.
• Our school has maintained its A+ status through each school year. According to US News and World Report, we are currently ranked as a top 5 elementary school in the state of Florida and top 30 middle school in the state, while ranking number 1 for both elementary and middle in our school district. We know that being involved in music contributes to student academic success and this is clearly shown in our success in both music and academics.

“We Will”

At the beginning of this post, a quote from the song “We Will” by Jim Papoulis appears: “We’ll move on, we’ll go stronger, we will sing another song, we will dream of a promise that will bring a brighter day.” This song and quote hold a special place in the hearts of our school, music director, and students. “We Will” was planned as a piece for Seahorse Chorale to perform for the 2022–2023 school year. The choir had learned a majority of the song at the beginning of the school year, and it quickly became a favorite amongst the students.

On Saturday, September 24, 2022, Seahorse Chorale hosted a car wash fundraiser at the Bank of the Islands on Sanibel. At the time, Hurricane Ian was not expected to make a huge impact in our area, so things carried on as usual. Sanibel Mayor Holly Smith came to the car wash, and we performed an excerpt from “We Will” for her. She was complimentary of the performance and was excited for our school year ahead.

Four days later, Hurricane Ian made landfall just north of Sanibel Island and devastated the Sanibel community. The Sanibel Causeway, the only gateway to and from the island, was destroyed. Families lost everything and faced trauma beyond imagination. When classes resumed, we were not able to return back to The Sanibel School campus, but to the campus of another school: San Carlos Elementary School.

When rehearsing for the first time since the storm, Seahorse Chorale realized that “We Will” has a completely different meaning: After facing unimaginable trauma, we will come back better and stronger than ever before. This song served as our “anthem” for the rest of that school year and was the first song we sang celebrating our return back to The Sanibel School campus in February 2023.

Since then, this song has served as an inspiring reminder that no matter what challenges, big or small, come your way, you must keep going and come out of it stronger than ever. We have proven this at The Sanibel School. Let music be the force that keeps your school thriving and growing stronger than ever before!

About the author:

NAfME member Joey Giangreco has been the Music Director at The Sanibel School for the past ten years, educating students from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. He teaches K-5 General Music, 6th Grade Enrichment and Health, and directs four performing ensembles: Seahorse Chorale (middle school choir), The Steel Drum Band, Elementary Choir, and Orff Club. Seahorse Chorale has been selected to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City (earning a rating of Gold for their performance), the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN, and Walt Disney World. Mr. Giangreco also teaches the school’s musical theater class, Performing Arts. He has directed ten musical productions, most recently Newsies Jr. As a leading educator, Mr. Giangreco has been named a Teacher of Distinction in 2021, 2024 and 2025.

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