Past projects 19
Reliable Rugged Rolling Marching Band Speaker Carts
Funded May 23, 2018This past summer we were the recipient of items that were on DonorsChoose site. The items awarded to us were two speaker carts. These carts were of used every day during our marching band season in the fall. These dates range from August 1 to November 20. Because of these items, it has provided our students with a safer way to transport our audio speaker equipment from our storage garage to our practice field and back. This happens twice on Mondays.
This has also made it easier to load on to our equipment truck to transport to football games and marching contests in Odessa and out of town. The speakers are mounted and tied down to the speaker carts. These carts were specifically built to our speaker dimensions. In the world of the marching band, the front ensemble has evolved. It is now the norm to amplify your instruments and synthesizers. By doing so, one needs the speaker to complete what is necessary for this part of the marching band.
This equipment has taught the students how to plug in the equipment, run the sound from the mixing board and listen for balance. The great thing about this equipment is that we get to use sound effects now when the marching shows calls for it. This really helps our band program stay with the current times. I want to personally thank you for providing this type of event for the people who are looking into donating. This concept has made it easier with choices for all the donors. Without them, all of the programs would suffer.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn
This classroom project was brought to life by An Anonymous Arts Funder and 9 other donors.Band Hall Basics To Blastoff A Brilliant Beginning
Funded Aug 22, 2018We have had an absolutely fantastic start to our school year. This is due in part because of your donation to our DonorsChoose project. My students now have a school year's worth of pencils, Kleenex, and hand sanitizer. Believe it or not, these items are the most used in any classroom. Most of the time, individual teachers must spend their own hard earned money to purchase these types of items. Thanks to you, we already have what we need to continue having a great school year.
My students didn't waste any time using the products. The look on their faces when they were given 2,000 pencils was priceless. Every time a student walks into my office and asks for a kleenex, I will be reminded of your generosity in helping us complete this project.
Thank you for supporting music education and my classroom through your donation to our project. I hope you will continue to give to worthy causes here on DonorsChoose.
Thanks and Have a Great Day!!!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn
This classroom project was brought to life by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and 4 other donors.Masterful Majestic Mighty Mute Music
Funded Mar 19, 2018Greetings from West Texas. My students and I are loving the mutes that you all helped us purchase through DonorsChoose. Many of our pieces of music call for mutes and until now, our students have had to purchase their own mutes. A regular mute can cost $50+. This is not possible for my students who are already paying money to rent their instruments.
The composers who wrote the music we are playing right now would like to have their music performed as they heard it when they wrote it. This includes changing the sound of our instruments with the help of brass mutes. The mutes we purchased changes the sound by lowering the volume and making the instrument sound more brilliant and brassy. This is a specific sound that can only be made using a brass mute. Thanks to you, we can now make these sounds.
We really appreciate your contribution to our band program and hope you continue to support music education in our community and around the country. Please be on the lookout for my future projects. Thank you for the bottom of our hearts.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn
We Succeed At Our Deeds With Reeds
Funded May 11, 2018Greetings from Odessa, Texas and the Odessa High School Broncho Band. Thank you again for your donations to my project to help us with woodwind reeds this school year. We started playing on them the day they arrived. In fact, they arrived just in time for our marching band contests this semester. This was absolutely fantastic because all of our woodwind players had new reeds to play on for marching contest. This made a huge impact on our tone quality and helped us earn the 1st division trophy at marching contest.
For the past 10 years, we have been charging students to buy reeds that we purchased for them at the local music store. Even then, the reeds cost so much money especially since they get chipped and or broken often. The reeds that we now have because of your donations will last us through the school year saving our students a lot of money. Thank you.
In today's present climate, music education is one of the first subjects with funding cuts at the district and state levels. Teachers, such as myself, must find new ways to continue our successful programs with less funding. I thank DonorsChoose and you for your donations to our band program. Thank you for your commitment to music education and the band program at Odessa High School. My students and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn
This classroom project was brought to life by Google.org and 7 other donors.Sizzling Speaker for Snazzy Students
Funded Oct 21, 2017Thank you so very much for the money to purchase our speaker for the marching band field. This wonderful piece of technology allows us, the band directors, the ability to be heard across an entire high school football field. Or as we call it, a Marching Band Field. Besides our voice coming through the speaker, we also use it to amplify our metronome. This helps our entire marching band stay together in any time signature. The most exciting aspect of this speaker is the ability to connect to it through Bluetooth. This allows any band director on the field to amplify what he/she has on their phone to the entire marching band. We could not do what we do without this very important piece of equipment. Thank you again so much for the speaker.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn
We Will Succeed At Our Deeds With New Reeds
Funded Sep 21, 2017Greetings from Odessa, Texas and the Odessa High School Broncho Band. Thank you again for your donations to my project to help us with woodwind reeds this school year. We started playing on them the day they arrived. In fact, they arrived just in time for our marching band contests this semester. This was absolutely fantastic because all of our woodwind players had new reeds to play on for marching contest. This made a huge impact on our tone quality and helped us earn the 1st division trophy at marching contest.
For the past 10 years, we have been charging students to buy reeds that we purchased for them at the local music store. Even then, the reeds cost so much money especially since they get chipped and or broken often. The reeds that we now have because of your donations will last us through the school year saving our students a lot of money. Thank you.
In today's present climate, music education is one of the first subjects with funding cuts at the district and state levels. Teachers, such as myself, must find new ways to continue our successful programs with less funding. I thank DonorsChoose and you for your donations to our band program. Thank you for your commitment to music education and the band program at Odessa High School. My students and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn
This classroom project was brought to life by Yamaha Corporation of America and 9 other donors.Buzzing Boisterous Brass Mouthpieces
Funded Aug 18, 2016Thank you so much for your donation to buy these mouthpieces for my band program. Many of my students barrow school owned instruments and do not have funds available to go and buy a mouthpiece for their instrument. This puts me in a bind because my students have an instrument but they do not have a mouthpiece to play on. Well not any more. Thanks to you, all my students have the proper equipment to play every day in band class.
You should have seen the look on their faces when I handed them their brand new, never been used, brass mouthpiece. Their faces lit up with excitement and joy. My students Thank you as well for your generous donation to helping them play in band class.
I personally cant thank you enough. It is a great feeling knowing that there are people out there, like you, who support music in our schools. Please keep supporting music and fine arts in our schools because a life without music would Bb. :-)”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn
This classroom project was brought to life by Yamaha Corporation of America – Band & Orchestral and 4 other donors.An Ear-resistable Approach to Improving Concert Band Concepts
Funded Nov 3, 2016Thank you so very much for the donation to order these books for my band students. Let me start off by saying that we have been using the books since school started last week. I have already heard such a big improvement in tone quality and technique from my students. They, my students actually hear the difference as well. I cannot thank you enough for helping us become a better band.
On top of sounding better, my students have improved their listening and hearing skills. On a daily basis, I ask my students different questions about our playing. And you know what? They are giving me correct answers. I am so unbelievable happy. Thank you.
We have contest in 3 months and I have no doubt at all that by continuing to use these books we will have incredible results. Once again, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for donating these books to our band program.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn
BERPs Buzzing In Band
Funded Mar 12, 2016Thank you so very much for your donations to buy our BERPS to use in band rehearsal. We are using the BERPS on a daily basis where I can definitely hear a difference in my students playing ability. The use the BERPS as part of our warm up routine to get our lips ready to rehearse our concert band music. We also use the BERPS when my students are struggling with a certain melody. I have them buzz the melody on their BERPS to hear how their airflow is coming out of their mouthpiece and give them instructions on how to fix it.
My students were very excited to receive the BERPS especially since they did not have to pay for them. Many of my students do not have the resources to purchase music items such as the BERPS. This opened their eyes about people out in the world who care for music education. Thank you so much for your donation.
We will continue to use our BERPS every year in our band rehearsals. They are made of plastic and will last a long time when we take care of them. We are always working towards perfecting our music and these devises definitely helped us. Thank you.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn
This classroom project was brought to life by #BestSchoolDay and one other donor.Superior Musicianship One Chord at a Time
Funded Mar 9, 2016Thank you so very much for the Harmony Director Keyboard you purchased for my students. This one simple piece of technology allows me to teach through examples rather than words alone, the kind of harmonic understanding that normally takes many years of experience to develop.
I am able to help my students understand how each part fits into the complete harmony of the ensemble. This level of understanding has helped my band move from good to outstanding. Since receiving the Harmony Director, I have been able to improve my student's harmony training, rhythm training and ensemble timing. The Harmony Director allows me to clearly demonstrate pure temperaments while teaching my students how to tune individual notes within chords, so that entire chords may be tuned.
Many of my students have mentioned to me that they had no idea that within one chord, we had to tune notes differently. This has taken my student's musical awareness level to new heights. My band sounds better each and every day. We will continue to use the Harmony Director everyday in band class. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for providing us with this technology.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Dojahn