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Mr. Hamalainen's Classroom

  • Dirigo High School
  • Dixfield, ME
  • Half of 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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We'll charge your card today and send Mr. Hamalainen a DonorsChoose gift card he can use on his classroom projects. Starting next month, we'll charge your card and send him a DonorsChoose gift card on the 17th of every month.

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Current requests

Wireless Guitar for Dynamic Music Learning

Help me give my students wireless guitar capabilities with two high quality guitar transmitters.
Mr. Hamalainen
Dirigo High School
Dixfield, ME
  • 1 donor so far
  • $462 still needed

A Camera to Help Share Our Concerts

Help me give my students a video camera to record our concerts for family and friends.
Mr. Hamalainen
Dirigo High School
Dixfield, ME
  • Be the first to support this project
  • $1,442 still needed

Piano Accompaniment Modernized

Help me give my students two MIDI controller keyboards for choir, band, and piano class.
Mr. Hamalainen
Dirigo High School
Dixfield, ME
  • Be the first to support this project
  • $5,198 still needed
show projects from all time

Past projects 22

  • Kids Need Capos!

    Funded Apr 22, 2024

    Thank you so much for your generous and thoughtful donation. With 20 students currently enrolled in our guitar class, our capo shortage was an often lamented deficit. No longer! As soon as the new capos arrived, we promptly had 2 students volunteer to break out the paint pens and label each capo with a corresponding guitar (numbered 1-25). We had our first full lesson on capo usage, working on Here Comes the Sun and Wonderwall, two songs that require a capo. The only unexpected challenge was helping my students determine which pitches to tune their strings. Thankfully, with a little guidance and some patience, no strings were broken! The ubiquitous use of capos in popular music means that our capos will be used very often. Thank you so much!”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hamalainen

    This classroom project was brought to life by Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation and 5 other donors.
  • A Cable Fable

    Funded Mar 4, 2024

    Thank you so much for your incredibly kindness and generosity. We are now very well stocked up with instrument cables! These high quality cables are being well used in concert band (electric bass guitar), choir (guitar accompaniment), guitar class (bass, electric, and ukulele), and electronic music (interconnecting effects units). My students were thrilled to see our 'wall of cables' loaded with all of these brand new cables. It also prompted a teachable moment, discussing cable management - proper cable storage that helps extend the lifespan of our instrument cables. Please know that your generosity is making an immediate impact on all of our music classes. Thank you so much!”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hamalainen

  • In Tune and Loving It

    Funded Nov 28, 2023

    Thank you so much for your incredible generosity. The guitar tuners have been a blessing! Our guitar class is currently very well enrolled with 20 students! We have beginners and experienced guitarists combined. Each guitar now has it's own tuner, which is an incredible time saver. One of the first foundational skills is tuning our instruments. Clip-on tuners have now become standard in common guitar practice. Although tuning by ear is also important, the time saved when using our new tuners enables us to spend more time on playing skills, which is what the people want!!!

    Thank you again!”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hamalainen

    This classroom project was brought to life by The DonorsChoose Community and 3 other donors.
  • Great Headphones for Better Music Making

    Funded Jan 20, 2023

    Thank you so much for your thoughtful and generous donation. One of the most important pieces of equipment when making electronic music is a quality set of headphones. Many of my students do not have access to such headphones on their own. By providing the basics, all students are on relatively equal footing to achieve success in this class.

    These headphones are fantastic! Simple, lightweight, and they sound great. And we have plenty to accommodate a full class now. It has simplified a foundational part of our routine. Students enter the class, grab their headphones, and get to work.

    Thank you again!”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hamalainen

  • ¡Viva La Guitarra!

    Funded Aug 25, 2021

    The new classical guitar in our music room has been a huge hit. None of my students had ever played a nylon string guitar! They made comments that surprised me, to be honest. "Ohhh, I LIKE this" "It feels so nice on my fingers"

    Many of the music students in my classroom play guitar in addition to singing and/or playing a wind instrument. They enjoy using my steel string acoustic, electric guitar, bass guitar, and ukulele. The new nylon string guitar truly fills out this guitar family of instruments.

    Moving forward, this guitar has been especially useful as an accompaniment in our high school choir. It has a focused and pure tone that helps students hear their pitch without the sparkly shimmer of a steel string.

    Thank you so much for this beautiful donation!”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hamalainen

  • Crash, Bang, Boom!

    Funded Apr 7, 2021

    Our two music rooms (high school & middle school) have been infused with a jolt of energy and enthusiasm because of your incredible donation. With both drum sets upgraded with professional level cymbals, all of the percussionists have been chomping at the bit to spend time at the kit. Another amazing benefit is that the addition of new cymbals has freed up older mid-level cymbals, which have been sent home to several of the drummers' homes, where they are borrowing an older drum set from the school.

    Beginners learn better on great sounding instruments, and your generous gift is making a beautiful impact on my students' musical growth. Thank you so much.”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hamalainen

  • Plug & Play!

    Funded Mar 29, 2020

    That was fast! Thank you so much for your thoughtful and generous donation. We are so excited to start the jazz band program at our site, and these materials will be well used! Students have been talking about the jazz band all year, and as soon as we get back on campus we'll be ready to jam!”

    With gratitude,

    Mr. Hamalainen

I am the proud music teacher at Dirigo High School and Middle School. We offer Band, Choir, Guitar, and Electronic Music instruction. My students are absolutely fantastic young musicians. They show up every day eager to achieve greatness. They inspire me! Thank you for supporting my young musicians!

About my class

I am the proud music teacher at Dirigo High School and Middle School. We offer Band, Choir, Guitar, and Electronic Music instruction. My students are absolutely fantastic young musicians. They show up every day eager to achieve greatness. They inspire me! Thank you for supporting my young musicians!

About my class

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