Past projects 9
Guitar Racks for Storage
Funded Aug 30, 2022Thank you so much for your generous donations. The students and I are very much looking forward to safely storing our instruments and are so excited to share our cleaned-up corner so that students can begin or continue their journey making music. I'm so grateful for your continued support.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mandler-Smith
Clear Wind Guards for Outdoor Playing
Funded Aug 22, 2021We are so thrilled to have our plexi sheets to aid in our outdoor playing. They have been used for months and have helped students play without having to worry about the wind stealing their music from the stands. We are thankful that you have helped us with this need and it has made our lives significantly easier. Three bands and our marching band have used them at various points in the year. I envision these being used for years now that we have them as an extra tool to help us navigate playing in different environments.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mandler-Smith
Charged Up!
Funded Jan 29, 2020Thank you so much for your continued support and donations! This is such an vital item for our equipment and I can’t begin to fully express my gratitude at your generous donations. My students will be so thrilled to have charged Chromebooks and a safe storage place. Thank you all!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mandler-Smith
Bass Drum Head Replacements
Funded Sep 29, 2017Thank you so much for your donations! I am so grateful that you were willing to help and our students will be thrilled to get new bass drum heads this year! I can't wait to hear how much better they will sound. Your support means the world to me!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mandler-Smith
Bouncy Bands for Calm Minds
Funded Jan 25, 2017Thank you so much for your donations. The students love it so far. They think that having the bouncy bands only in our classroom is the coolest, well, as cool as 7th graders get. From what I have heard today, students were a little bouncy, but when they got to my class, other than the novelty of adjusting the bands to their heights, they were enjoying the fact that they had an opportunity to move while still being in their desks. A few said they were working up a sweat during class. However, there was less wandering around the room and it kept them rather focused.
I think this is an excellent alternative solution for my wiggly tweens. Thank you so much for your contributions and allowing this project to happen!”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mandler-Smith
Accessorize Our Percussionists!
Funded Mar 1, 2016Thank you for your generous support for my program. The students are all very excited to add to their instrumental repertoire. Because of your timely donations, my students were able to have a full set of instruments to play for our school musical, In the Heights. This allowed them to be able to provide the music fully for our drama production and gave them the experience of being in a full orchestra pit.
For our upcoming Pops Concert, the instruments are again being used to enhance our pieces. We are playing selections from Jersey Boys, Green Day, the Beach Boys and movie themes. These instruments are filling in all of the musical holes from the last few years.
I can't express how much gratitude I have for helping fulfill this project and give my students the opportunity to expand their horizons from learning new instruments and creating a fuller, more musical sound.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mandler-Smith
Notes to Live By--Concert Percussion
Funded Jan 24, 2015Thank you so much for your generous donations. My students are super excited to be playing on a new instrument and one that is new. We just have to learn how to use better technique, which is much easier to teach when you have an instrument to play. We are now able to better distribute parts among our nine percussionists.
Slowly, but surely, we are learning how to be better percussionist and not just drummers. This is an important step in their musical education. It will make them more well-rounded and able to be more versatile as players. It will also give them all the opportunity to switch off on different parts instead of the same people playing the same instruments all of the time.
This was a part of rebuilding our band after several decades of neglect and the program being non-existent. We are at 54 members up from 34 from last year. This is an exciting time of growth. Because our percussionists are so excited to be playing on more instruments, one of my juniors has decided to form a percussion ensemble. This is self-directed and the marimba has played an important part in the motivation. We are so very grateful and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mandler-Smith
Stand(ing) in a Middle with a Gong in Hand
Funded Oct 1, 2014My students are so very grateful
For your donation. It is such a relief that they no longer have to hang the gong from a stand rack. Which, in addition to being inconvenient, was also dangerous. My students love how easy it is to move the gong to where it needs to be and to not have to worry about a stand rack falling over. They actually have a lot of fun playing the gong when they need to now. You probably can't tell from their serious faces, but they can now focus more on the music than the equipment. For that, I am grateful.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mandler-Smith
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and 2 other donors.What is a Nose by Any Other Name?
Funded Feb 20, 2014The students are thrilled to have one translation of Cyrano. They can't contain their excitement. Thank you again for your generous donations. They were really impressed that the project got funded. Thank you for helping my classroom and making their education more streamlined. Having different translations of the book make continuity difficult and they were frustrated with the circumstances. The books are gorgeous. The bindings will be taped and handled with care for these two classes and future generations.”
With gratitude,
Ms. Mandler-Smith