(March 10, 2011 -- SAVAGE, MN)  -- Music teacher Sarah Heyden surveys the room where she has the eyes of every musician.

"Pepperoni pizza," she begins, not to order lunch, but to remind her musicians the cadence of the music they will be playing.

This is the advanced orchestra at Harriet Bishop Gifted and Talented Elementary school in Savage.  It's comprised of 3rd through 6th graders, and made possible by a grant through the Minnesota Department of Education.

"That money we got from the grant paid for 90 stringed instruments," said Tia Clasen, gifted/magnet coordinator at the school.

The school is interested in more than stimulating an appreciation for the fine arts. Staff are tracking student's achievement data.

"And what we found," said principal Rob Nelson, "particularly in the area of mathematics, our strings students showed a 40-percent greater growth in mathematics than similar aged peers who are not in strings."

To read the entire article, and watch the orchestra in action, visit KARE-11.