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 wonderful students attend a Title I school in inner-city metropolitan Arizona. The population of 500+ students is mostly Latino, with small percentages of everyone else. There are hundreds of immigrants, dozens of refugees in attendance. We celebrate the diversity of our student body and benefit from the cultural exchange of students who speak so many languages and come from such different parts of the world.
However, some of our students face unique challenges associated with poverty.
Many of our field trips must be funded by outside sources. 85% of the students qualify for free lunch. And our school district is located in a neighborhood with a statistically high crime rate.
Despite limited resources, the students LOVE the arts! During the pandemic, they were limited to the digital arts of graphic design and music production on their Ipads. Now that we are back in the classroom, they are enthusiastic about playing instruments, singing, and music literacy.
My Project
Prior to the pandemic, students would share barred instruments during Orff lessons to provide accompaniment when singing. Due to pandemic protocols, it is now both impractical and unhealthy for students to share instruments. Students cannot sit that close together, and we do not have time to sanitize the mallets and cases between uses.
Additional cases of glockenspiels would give us a 1:1 ratio of barred instruments, increasing hands-on performance opportunities, giving students autonomy over their learning pace, and also allowing an entire class to perform a song at a school concert.
Because they are cased, once sanitized and closed, no other student can touch them until the next class opens them, keeping everyone healthy and safe.
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. Thompson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
