About the Shop

The PPS Music Shop is responsible for the care, maintenance, repair, tracking, and purchasing of all PPS-owned instruments (including brass, woodwinds, percussion, and strings).

PPS music teachers also have access to supplies, elementary music resources, and specialty music equipment.

ABOUT THE TECHNICIAN

Jennie Johnson has been repairing instruments for Portland Public since 2014. She received a B.A. in Trombone Performance and Business Administrations. After a short time in the business world and playing professionally, she went back to school for a certificate in Band Instrument Repair in Red Wing, Minnesota. Jennie worked at Tigard Music and Wally's Music before taking the job at PPS. Her favorite things about working for the school district are working directly with teachers to help programs grow, music advocacy in and outside of work, and being able to ensure that our PPS students have what they need to be involved in music education. She currently plays mandolin, banjo, and piano for fun. Softball, cross-country skiing, and hiking are her cleansers outside of music.

HISTORY

Many larger school districts throughout the United States have a music shop to maintain their instrument inventories. Several were cut in the late 1980's, some of which have been re-established, but Portland has kept their music shop in existence since it began. The music shop consisted of three to five employees until the early 90's including a brass technician, woodwind technician, string technician, clerk, and piano technician. The shop is currently a department of one but still continues to hold strong in maintaining school owned PPS instruments.

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