O'Fallon Township High School Wins Award for Partnership with Halpin Music

ALTON/O’FALLON - O’Fallon Township High School students can receive on-site instrument repairs thanks to local Alton business Halpin Music.

OTHS recently won a 2026 Advocacy in Action Award from Music for All, recognized in the Community Involvement category for their partnership with Halpin. Mark Landon, owner of Halpin, explained that the business works with OTHS to repair students’ instruments on-site using their mobile repair shop. He believes this model is a great choice for other schools, too.

“We’ve been in the school music business for a very long time, for over 60 years now,” he said. “We’ve been doing that for a long time, and we’re still here to serve and to try and make music education, both on the student side and on the educator side, as seamless and as easy as possible.”

Landon explained that the collaboration started with a conversation between him and Dr. Melissa Gustafson-Hinds, the band director at OTHS. Gustafson-Hinds had noticed that many of her students were “hesitant” to alert her to any issues with their instrument or to send their instrument in for repairs because they didn’t want to miss out on practice time.

She suggested that Halpin could expand their school instrument repair services to offer on-site fixes. During the marching band season, competitions or band camps, this would be especially helpful so students wouldn’t miss any opportunities.

Gustafson-Hinds was “persistent,” and the more she encouraged it, the more Landon began to think it was a great idea. He found a used Red Cross disaster vehicle, which looks like an ambulance, and converted it to have “a mini repair shop” inside. Starting in Spring 2024, his repair tech could now travel directly to OTHS and make repairs on the spot.

This program has proven to be a great success. The truck and repair tech travel to OTHS a few times every school year. Students can pay one $60 fee to have their instrument serviced whenever the truck comes.

Not only has OTHS benefited, but other schools have also seen firsthand how this initiative works. Halpin has taken their truck to band competitions, so they can repair instruments throughout the day and students can compete. This accessibility is a major perk for students, music educators and parents.

“That’s the goal, to help not only students but the music educators and parents as well by providing a service to them that might otherwise take a little bit of doing to get done,” Landon explained. “There aren’t just band instrument repair shops on every corner. It does take a little bit of doing. You get your kid’s instrument and drive it somewhere where it can be serviced. And then there is cost involved in that, too. But the primary goal is always to provide as many opportunities to avoid that as we can.”

The innovation of the on-site repair shop and the partnership between Halpin and OTHS has earned them the Music for All award. Landon noted that the repair truck might be a great opportunity for other high schools to get the service they need for their students. As a business, Halpin works to support musicians across Southern Illinois, and they are always eager to work with schools.

“That’s ultimately the goal, to provide it and make it available to as many music educators and band students as possible,” Landon added.

For more information, visit the official Halpin Music website.

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