My students need to create and perform an original opera through a 30 week, community outreach program of an outstanding local opera company.
$3,618 goal
This project expired on October 20, 2013.
This project expired on October 20, 2013.
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
"Happy people give high fives, they have good vibes, with crazy lives!" These lyrics rang out over a dazzled elementary school audience as my zany sixth graders performed them, clad in blue tie dyed t-shirts and pipe cleaner alien antennae. It was anything but a regular old day in 6th grade.
I teach a group of creative, risk-taking 6th graders at a neighborhood magnet school in a large, Midwestern city.
My students are authors and readers, unafraid to share their opinions and not yet too cool for school. Many come from large, close-knit families that may not have the resources for dance or piano lessons but will stand behind their children in anything they decide to do. In a city on a tight budget, our school is without a music program or music teacher but, by the grace of amazing arts outreach programs, we're able to support our blossoming musicians and dancers as much as our resources allow.
My Project
The Opera in the Classroom program is an amazing experience facilitated by a local opera company. The zealous staff members come weekly to lead theater games, teach music basics, and orchestrate an entire original opera. Within the 30 weeks of the program, students will develop a plot, contribute ideas for dialog, work with a composer to write original songs, and dance with a professional choreographer--all culminating in multiple performances of a show written entirely by our students.
The end product is stunning and memorable. But the process is even more breathtaking. My students lit up in the opera classes, fighting to contribute ideas for characters and plot. Some of our quietest students led dance rehearsals for the whole class and the two boys who were most reluctant to participate became better stage managers than I'd ever dreamed. The Opera in the Classroom program promoted confidence and creativity that will stay with my students long after our last day of classes.
Like so much of the country, our school is being slammed with cuts in funding.
The revised budget will impact everything from staffing to toilet paper, and the Opera in the Classroom program that has done so much for my students is included in these cuts.
This grant is written to fund another year of Opera in the Classroom programming, providing 85 sixth graders a year of creating, performing, and growing. Please consider supporting my aspiring actors for another year in the limelight.
Opera in the Classroom Program
(Linden Christ and the Chicago Opera Theater staff will engage my students in a 30 week, in-classroom program, generating an original opera that my students will perform at the end of the year.)
$3,000.00
Visitor cost
$3,000.00
Vendor shipping charges
FREE
Sales tax
$0.00
3rd party payment processing fee
$45.00
Fulfillment labor & materials
$30.00
Total project cost
$3,075.00
Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
$542.65
Total project goal
$3,617.65
Our team works hard to negotiate the best pricing and selections available.
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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 Ms. Griffith and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
