My students come from diverse backgrounds (95% minority), yet they are unified in the pursuit of musical excellence. Music class provides a safe community for creative, emotional, and social opportunities. Students learn employable skills like goal-setting, teamwork, and responsibility while making lifelong friendships.
I teach at a school in central Virginia where 100% of students can receive both free breakfast and free lunch, and about 50% of music students speak English as a second language (current or former ESOL students).
My students are 75% low income but 100% talent! Our school works creatively to assure that no student misses out on an educational opportunity due to money, and DonorsChoose has been "instrumental" in making that happen!
My Project
Our school serves a diverse population, both in ethnicity and household income. While most students have no problem obtaining the required dress pants or a long skirt for concerts, other students struggle with this requirement. Occasionally, a student participates in the concert overdressed in a quinceañera dress because it's the only dressy clothing the student has ever owned. Believe it or not, those students feel more embarrassed than underdressed students.
Providing uniform concert attire at no cost to advanced orchestra members will enable students of all backgrounds to participate equally well dressed for school concerts.
For this project, we are requesting uniform black palazzo pants for the 8th grade orchestra. We have chosen to start with bottoms because this seems to be the most challenging part of our concert attire needs. Students were given a choice between skirts and pants, and they unanimously chose pants. We will later add a uniform blouse, but in the meantime, students will wear a dressy blouse of their own choosing. Thank you for supporting these talented musicians!
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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. Austin and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
