COOS BAY — When Ida Jo Gates teaches a student to sing, she isn’t just thinking about the quality of the music. She’s imagining how her pupil will benefit when she works on a math problem, or cracks open a book.

That’s why the executive director of Coastal Community School of Music and the Arts spends every Tuesday and Thursday morning at Blossom Gulch Elementary School. She has been working with Terri Kinnaird’s second-grade class as a sort of pilot program. Eventually, she said she hopes every class can receive instruction from a musician.

“It’s so important to teach children. The smaller the better,” she said. “There’s so much benefit to singing.”

Students improve their reading and math skills from learning musical principles, Gates said. And it offers a welcome break from assignments that may not offer the creative release performing arts do.

The problem is music isn’t mandatory curriculum, making it expendable when districts cut programs.

Vocal music instructors haven’t taught in Coos Bay elementary schools since the mid-1980s. Regular classroom teachers have continued music education in one form or fashion, but it’s hard to replicate Gates’ enthusiasm or experience, said Blossom Gulch principal Jodi O’Mara.

Gates has been teaching music for about 40 years, arriving on the South Coast from Arizona in 2007 when she purchased the Oregon Coast School of Music. She converted it into a nonprofit so she could work with young people in schools, and now she’s trying to get others involved, too.

Gates also teaches at Southwestern Oregon Community College, where she has found four students who’ve agreed to join her at Blossom Gulch. They will learn how to teach and eventually offer their own instruction.

Mike Turner, head of Southwestern’s music department, said the students will get credit and improve their chances for admission into graduate programs.

“It will give them a leg up on students who don’t have that experience in the classroom,” he said.

Alex Wiese, a freshman from Portland, said he learned how to play violin and trumpet in elementary school and gained a real appreciation for music teachers.

“I’ve been given such an extraordinary gift and it seems wrong not to pass it on,” he said.

Gates hopes to have them in the classroom soon. She also has been working with the Myrtle Point School District to build marimbas and create a band by next fall.

There is a lot she wants to accomplish, but a lot of progress has already been made, she said. She noted that students who started out with a range of three notes can now sing octave scales and perform two-part harmonies with their classmates.

The evidence was clear in the classroom on Thursday.

Gates kept Kinnaird’s students mesmerized by switching from one activity to another, first reviewing solfeggio, then practicing the new skills on xylophones. The classroom only has about a dozen of the instruments, so some students looked longingly at their lucky classmates. Gates didn’t miss a beat.

“Boys and girls on that side of the room, don’t get concerned because you’ll get your chance,” she said.

Kinnaird said her students get really excited for the music instruction. She said she plays music in the classroom sometimes and after a couple of months, the students were able to identify the composers without prompting. And when the second-grade class put on a performance for their parents, Kinnaird’s students were leading the way.

“I’ve really seen a remarkable difference from what she has offered these children,” Kinnaird said.

Gates also has created a choir that meets Tuesday and Thursday mornings, with members from the second- third- and fourth-grade classes. Any student who wanted to join was offered a seat and Gates said she has a strong core of 45 members. Three of those members are in Kinnaird’s class.

Kailan Bjornerud said she enjoys singing all kinds of music, particularly country.

“I sing a lot in my room and annoy my sister,” she said with a giggle.

Luke Inskeep, whose favorite song is “It’s December in Our Town,” said he likes to impress his mom with his singing.

“I just like to sing wherever, when it comes to me,” he said.