During the 1st semester, we were able to come together and present live programs and have in-person school after almost 18 months of virtual and hybrid learning. Our students are from a large urban high school where over 50 percent in our district qualify for free and reduced lunch. Twenty-five percent of my students have IEPs and 22% of my student are English language learners. More than 60% receive free or reduced-price lunch. My singers come from diverse backgrounds and attend a large urban high school of more than 3,800 students. Most of my students do not have formal training in the performing arts or experience being in ensembles so I try to provide these opportunities to build equal access and encourage our diverse student body to participate and engage in the beauty of the arts and well as developing a lifelong love of music, dance, and performance.
Our music students are a beautiful reflection of our diverse community and mirror the rich melting pot of the urban areas in our country, creating a sense of family with bonds that will last a lifetime, within the classroom based on mutual respect and collaboration.
My Project
I am requesting consumable items that students often cannot afford. When we go to performance contests and festivals or perform on our own stage, this semester we need items such as bobby pins, safely pins, knee high hose and panty hose to go under dresses. We also need duct tape for last minutes repairs. I try to provide all costumes for our student performances including choir outfits, dry-cleaning and much need repair supplies and undergarments for those not having them. The outfits will not be appropriate if the students have bare legs, undergarment straps hanging out and hair in eyes. Students often need these supplies to help their school-provided choir outfit look appropriate and performance ready. I am requesting that our closet be restocked with these performance essentials so that students look polished and comfortable on stage. All students are included in our performances who enroll in choir and there has not been a fee requirement since the onset of the pandemic. Many items were not replaced last year due to the pandemic and virtual learning. With in-person performances back this semester, we need to rebuild our supplies.
Many of the consumable items that are needed in our cache of supplies will be provided by this grant, thus allowing our hard earned fundraising extracurricular funds to be used for new music, new outfits, special opportunities..
We will be able to stretch our budget because we will not have to buy smaller items that tend to eat up so much of our budget without providing a long lasting benefit. The essentials provided in this grant will allow us to expand our performance outreach and improve our variety of music selections, as well additional opportunities we can provide our students through contest participation and visiting artists.
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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 Mrs. C. and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
