This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Music critic Virgil Thomson stated, "I've never known a musician who regretting being one. Whatever deceptions life may have in store for you, music itself is not going to let you down." A diverse, enriching, comprehensive music program is all too uncommon in urban schools - we aim to fix that!
Our eight-year-old, small, public school collects some of the best and brightest students from its surrounding impoverished areas.
We are a screened school for grades six through twelve. Our school’s mission is to immerse students in a college-going culture from sixth grade, and high schoolers often graduate with 30+ college credits from a nearby four-year college. Our population includes many first- and second-generation immigrants, especially from the Caribbean. Most students are eligible for free meals. In music class, most of the students begin with little or no experience reading music or playing an instrument. They are given that opportunity in a one-semester course in music, with an opportunity to join after-school, before-school, and lunchtime music clubs. We’re moving towards offering music electives and ensembles are part of the regular daily schedule.
My Project
This project is designed to help our school build a diverse, comprehensive, and sustainable instrumental music program. The equipment requested is vital to establishing performance ensembles in which students can learn music literacy, composing, improvising, and music theory. Such music programs are common in suburban schools—students get a chance to learn an instrument in fourth or fifth grade, and can participate in a variety of music classes and bands until they graduate high school. This is rarely the case in urban settings such as ours, where schools and administrators are evaluated solely on invalid, outdated tests in “core subjects;” leaving little attention, funding, and scheduling flexibility for the fine arts.My students need a functional drum kit, electric guitars and amps, and a powered mixer to amplify our keyboards.
The students at this school deserve the opportunity to express themselves, enhance their lives, and learn invaluable life skills through a music program.
Funding for this project will expand our music offerings beyond just a semester of learning basic skills, and give these students the priceless opportunities so many children of privilege receive.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Gramling and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
