Cesar Gomez plays the clarinet he's been repairing, surrounded by shelves of woodwind, brass and string instruments. He checks each key to ensure they no longer stick. The clarinet is one of Gomez's most challenging projects yet at the Omaha Public Schools instrument repair shop, where he's an intern.

"I might mess it up a bit, but that's just part of the learning process, and I just keep going until I finish all the way through," said Gomez, a South High senior. "This gives me an important role, and it's nice knowing people rely on me."

Gomez works alongside Dave Fletcher, Omaha Public Schools instrument repair technician. Together, they fix hundreds of instruments yearly at the small shop inside the Career Center.

"I like having a mentor for such a niche subject," said Gomez. "Knowing that Omaha Public Schools has someone here makes it amazing because I feel like I've been given an opportunity that not many can have."

The partnership and keeping everything in working order is rewarding for Fletcher and Gomez.

"It allows me to share my craft, and the neat thing about Cesar is that he's truly interested in it," said Fletcher. "I'm taking him through the beginning of things. We started on the clarinet, then moved to dental work on trumpets and removing stuck slides and valves."

Christine Rabino, an Omaha Public Schools music teacher, brings her students' instruments to the repair shop. Our district provides instruments for students at all grade levels participating in their school band. Fletcher says the workshop receives more than 2,000 instruments per school year.

"It's nice because we have so many instruments that a majority of the kids use from Omaha Public Schools," said Rabino. "Dave gets them repaired quickly so we can get back to doing music and not just sitting there without an instrument."

Gomez is happy to contribute to that. After high school, he hopes to attend Western Iowa Tech to continue his education in a band instrument repair program.

"Music is a big part of my life," said Gomez. "I've always found tinkering around with things to be interesting, so I gravitated towards this naturally."

Jan. 2025

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