Music Director, Luis Hernandez Ramos

St. Catherine’s Academy is the oldest Catholic boys’ school in Orange County. Founded in 1889, the Academy offers “faith formation, all-boys academics, and a military tradition for leadership and self-motivation.”

There are about 170 students with a 10:1 teacher ratio, strong athletic, academic, and technology programs, and music instruction. The school’s new Music Director is Luis Hernandez Ramos, who also has a background in psychology. “There is an entire field of study in how music instruction positively affects a student’s ability to learn.”

St. Catherine’s has a marching band and general music study that includes learning guitar, but all of them are acoustic. Not anymore.

Mo’s Fullerton Music has been in business since 1946, offering private lessons and just about any instrument you might want to play. Roger Palmateer has been running Mo’s for the last six years. He has a military background of his own that included three years in the Army and two tours in Vietnam during 1969 and 1970. That’s where he received a Purple Heart. “I got hit with a fragmentation grenade,” he remembers.

Palmateer loves being around music and musicians but doesn’t play an instrument himself. He picked out three Peavey Raptor Backstage Packs that include a solid body guitar and amp and donated them to St. Catherine’s. “I wanted to make sure the guys have something decent to play with,” says Palmateer.

“This is going to have a big impact,” says Hernandez Ramos. “New equipment can make all the difference to a student who wants to learn and have fun doing it.” Palmateer feels the same way. “There is nothing better than seeing the lights come on in a kid when they get a handle on what they are trying to learn, and you can actually hear it.”

St. Catherine’s Lance Corporals Jorge Lopez and Lorenzo Miranda will be in the 8th Grade next year. They are boarding students from the City of Obregon in Sonora, Mexico. Both study guitar and would love to play lead guitar. “I like the effects you get with an electric guitar,” says Lopez. Miranda is just getting started on the instrument. “I like learning new notes and all kinds of music, including pop and hip hop.”

Lopez grabbed an acoustic and played “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” while picking up the new guitars at Mo’s on Friday. Hernandez Ramos says studying music is another way of integrating faith into learning, and it’s always interesting to listen to how individual students interpret that.

There will be some new sounds coming out of the 134-year-old Academy next term.

Mo’s Fullerton Music Center is located at 1109 East Commonwealth Ave. FULLERTON, California 92831, (714) 871-1805  •   info@mosfullertonmusic.com