Disadvantaged students + Music = Success!

Parker Elementary School is unique. A Title I public school in the Houston Independent School District, it is also a magnet school for music. 45% of our students are economically disadvantaged, and 40% have been identified as At Risk. 41% qualify for Free Lunch, and an additional 15% are Reduced Lunch students. We also currently have hurricane evacuees from both Katrina and Rita enrolled on our campus. Participating in Parker's music program not only engages the creativity of the students, but gives these children, many of whom are underprivileged, a sense of identity at school. They also benefit from a sense of achievement. This encourages a healthy self-esteem that serves them well in many areas of their lives. Nine full-time music teachers serve these 800 students, 600 of whom are participating in one of the music performance areas: Violin and Cello, Pre-Band, Beginning and Advanced Bands, Piano, a Choral program with four choirs, and Guitar. This is a long-established, nationally recognized award-winning music program (We have a Grammy!). ACADEMICS: We at Parker firmly believe that a student's musical experiences strengthen and enhance their core academic abilities, particularly in the math and science areas, as research continues to affirm. When the Katrina and Rita evacuees began arriving they were encouraged to choose a music area and get involved. Part of our motivation for encouraging them to do this is that we have seen so many music students' academic achievements improve over the years. In spite of this kind of evidence, however, budget cuts in the arts areas continue to be a fact of life in public education. We must continually look for supplemental funding simply to maintain our current programs. OUR NEED: We need a high quality laptop computer loaded with Windows XP. This computer, utilizing music publishing software, will be used to create original musical exercises, study pieces, and performance pieces for the students to play. This will allow us to tailor music to the needs and abilities of particular students, for example, students such as the hurricane evacuees who have had no previous musical training for us to build on. With such focused individual instruction, the students achieve success at a much faster rate, keeping them interested in what they are doing so they may eventually become advanced players or singers, or both. If they reach advanced music levels they stay involved. If they stay involved in music, they stay in school. Presently, the need for the laptop is most acute in the guitar program that I teach, as it is still in the design stages. A high percentage of the guitar students come from underserved backgrounds, and I am writing new music every day of the week for them! The laptop will be circulated and shared among the nine music teachers, saving the thousands of dollars it would cost to purchase the music publishing software for nine separate desktop computers. Also, laptops will allow our teachers the flexibility to take their work away from the school building in order to complete it in a timely manner. This request presents you with an opportunity to positively affect the growth and development of 600 students each year for years to come--a monumental return on your investment. We have a commitment from a separate donor to provide the music software when someone donates the laptop. Please put us to work by providing at least one laptop computer so that we may better serve the needs of these wonderful children! Thank you for your consideration.