Help me give my students a supply of double reeds, an essential but expensive material that will keep our bassoons and oboes playing!
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Mutze's classroom raised $730
This project is fully funded
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.
My Students
My students come from the vibrant Kingsbridge community in the Bronx. Our school is a Title I school, serving low-income students from the surrounding area. The students face diverse challenges inside and outside of the classroom, and many are first- or second-generation immigrants.
Together, my students and I are building a band program where there wasn't one before.
Our school offers numerous arts programs for students to choose from, including band, dance, art, and piano. The students who choose band truly want to be there; they are hard-working and dedicated to becoming the best musicians they can be.
"Band is the only class I can pay attention in besides when I play video games. And I have ADHD!" a student said to me proudly in the hallway last week. My band students are passionate, motivated, and enthusiastic, coming to class every day with a million new questions about music. They are thrilled to have the opportunity to play a wide variety of instruments, from the tuba to the bassoon. It is so important that we value their interests and passions by supplying them with all of the materials they need to be successful in band and life.
My Project
Our school is so lucky to own two oboes and two bassoons! We have more double reed instruments in our band program than most middle schools, but we still had more beginners ask to play these instruments than we could accommodate. All of our students know how special these scholarship instruments are, named such because playing them can open academic and financial opportunities for college.
Although our students love playing the bassoon and the oboe, these instruments have many challenges, including the expensive and delicate double reed that gives the instrument family its name.
These reeds are extremely temperamental and fragile. Changing weather, classroom heating, and amount of daily usage changes the way the reed behaves, affecting whether the instrument plays or not. Good double reeds are handmade and expensive for our students to purchase. The reeds themselves do not last long, even though our students are responsible and careful with them. The struggle of getting reeds to play correctly is just part of playing a double reed instrument.
Funding of this project would relieve the financial burden of purchasing reeds for my program and students. Each individual double reed costs about $13. I cannot ask my students to spend that amount of money on one reed that may only play for a few classes. Our school has previously purchased reeds for our students, but budget is tight this year and we are running out of reeds. If we do not have any reeds for our students, they will not be able to continue to play these beautiful, unique instruments. Our double reed students have worked very hard and love to play. They deserve access to all of the materials they need to be successful musicians. Thank you for your consideration of this project!
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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. Mutze and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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