Sixth grader Diego Poblet White has been selected as Orcas Island’s Music Student of the Month.
Diego is a percussionist who especially enjoys playing drum set, but his musical interests stretch well beyond percussion. He has played piano for about five years, drums and mallet instruments for two years, and also experiments with electronic music using a hardware sampler to record and mix sounds.
This fall, Diego added another instrument to the list: trumpet He began learning it for the school’s Mariachi exploratory class, inspired in part by hearing mariachi music with his family. Moving from percussion to a brass instrument has been a new challenge, but Diego says the transition has been going well.
Band instructor Mr. Dix praised Diego’s versatility and leadership. “Diego has not only been a leader in the percussion section this year, but he is also taking on the challenge to learn trumpet for our Mariachi exploratory class. He is doing a great job in both, learning quickly and showing great enthusiasm!” For Diego, percussion remains the favorite: “I just like playing with a beat.”
Congratulations to Diego Poblet White, October 2026 Music Student of the Month!
The Music Student of the Month series recognizes Orcas Island Public School musicians who work hard at their musical skills and whose love of music is an inspiration to their fellow student musicians. Thank you so much to the Orcas Island businesses who are sponsoring this monthly series throughout the 2025-26 school year that recognizes the efforts of student musicians and the value of school music!
–as published in Islands’ Sounder, October 2026