Past projects 7
We Got the Music, Help Us Hear It!
Funded Dec 4, 2023Thank you so much for contributing to our project to get it FULLY FUNDED! We are so excited to begin using our new headphones, they will come in handy for every single student, every day. Your generosity and support is not unnoticed, and is making a huge impact for the entire student body!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Roberts
This classroom project was brought to life by A family that cares about Boston and 6 other donors.We Got the Music, We Need the Tools!
Funded Nov 1, 2018We cannot express how excited we are to begin using our new percussion instruments and recording technology! As a K-8 school in a diverse inner city community, we have a HUGE variety of students that attend our school, and this new equipment will impact every 640+ student we serve!
In the younger grades, we will be learning how to properly use the percussion instruments, learn about the culture(s) they come from, and how to celebrate each culture's unique musical styles and traditions. While we are preparing to dive more deeply into using the instruments across all grades in the coming months, a few students in grade 4 already got to play the instruments as part of their Winter Concert this past December!
In the older grades, we will expand our study of the cultures these instruments come from, learn how to play them, and begin to utilize the recording technology to document our musical explorations. So many of the middle school students are already experimenting with music recording and mixing technologies at home and on their phones, it is a no-brainer to further strengthen this interest in the classroom!
Thank you again for your generous donations and for brightening our love of learning music!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Roberts
This classroom project was brought to life by Yamaha Corporation of America and 3 other donors.Uke is for U!
Funded Nov 20, 2017I cannot begin to express our sincerest gratitude for your generous donations to our ukulele project! Because of you, four more students get to experience the feeling of an instrument in their hands and the incredible sense of excitement, self-expression, and creativity that it brings. We are so excited to use the ukuleles as a tool during our song-writing unit in a few short weeks, a project that is sure to not only strengthen their musical technique, but also promote their creativity, writing, and self-expression skills as well. Your gift has given us even more reason to expand our ukulele program and push each and every student to embrace music as a way to use their unique voice and speak their truth. We cannot thank you enough!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Roberts
Help Enrich Our Day, the Ukulele Way!
Funded Sep 27, 2016Dear Donors,
I am so excited and grateful to be writing this letter to inform you how we have begun to use the instruments you so generously sponsored. The ukuleles, tuners, and extra strings arrived about a month ago, and we have already be utilizing them in music class with grades 5-8. Already, roughly 220 students have experienced the joy of successfully playing chords on their ukuleles! For many of these students, this is the first musical instrument they have ever held, and they are beyond excited about the possibilities.
So far, classes have been working on mastering the first four, basic chords. Many classes can already play these chords with ease and perfection, and are ready to start working on a song of their choice! Having the ability to use these instruments as a tool to not only teach music, but also encourage students to explore their education in their own way, has been paramount to their development as young people.
Many students have expressed sentiments such as "the ukuleles make school so much fun!"... "I woke up early because today was ukulele day!"... "I only came to school today because we have music class"... "I'm asking my mom for a ukulele for Christmas so I can play at home!"
The impact of these instruments for these students is even greater than I can express in words. Thank you again for your generous donation!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Roberts
This classroom project was brought to life by Yamaha Corporation of America – Band & Orchestral and 10 other donors.Help Our Students' Voices Be Heard!
Funded Dec 28, 2015I cannot say enough about how thankful we all are for your generous donations that helped to fully fund our project! The students are more excited than ever to rehearse and perform so they can use the new sound system! Not only is the technology so new and thrilling for them, it gives them a whole new sense of confidence and pride. Also, knowing that strangers have helped to bring this equipment into their musical lives has instilled in them a whole new awareness that what they do - sing, dance, act, etc - is not only important in their lives, but so important in the lives of others, they now truly understand the deep sense of community the performing arts can create. We have already used the sound system and microphones at at least a dozen school wide events, performances, dances, and concerts, and can't wait for it to touch the lives of many more students and faculty for years to come! Thank you so much, from the whole Whittier School community!!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Roberts
Pop Out of Jazz and into Pop!
Funded Dec 29, 2014Thank you so much for your generous donations to help us fund our project for a comprehensive Jazz Curriculum! Jazz music is so integral to understanding American music, it is the best place for us to start in our journey to explore and learn about the music that makes our great country so unique, and the music that is the foundation of my students' own music that they enjoy today.
My students always enjoy learning about where "their music" came from, so they were extremely excited to find out we now have such an excellent resource to help us learn exactly this! We just began exploring the curriculum together, the books, magazines, recordings, and videos, and we're really looking forward to putting them to good use.
Without this excellent curriculum, the students would not have had such an in-depth, comprehensive, and cohesive journey through learning about Jazz, and all the amazing music styles it has influenced through to today's music.
We thank you again, you have impacted over 400 students this year alone, and this resource will continue to be enjoyed for many years to come, for all the students who pass through the music classroom!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Roberts
Young Performers Tied Down by Wires!
Funded Oct 3, 2014We were so thrilled to receive the wireless microphones in time to use them for our annual Holiday Musical! Each year, the 5th and 6th grade students present a full musical, with costumes, props, sets, music, acting, dancing, and more! This year, we performed the "North Pole Musical", a story that includes a number of different characters who are required to move quite a bit around the stage and use their bodies to express the story. We were able to pull off an incredible performance thanks to these wireless microphones!!
Although the entire ensemble was excited to receive the microphones, the four performers who had the privilege of using them gave nothing but glowing reviews about how easy it was to use the microphones and how much it freed them to move around the stage and really express their character. The students who played Santa and Mrs. Claus were able to use the headset microphones, which worked so well with their costumes, and they were so happy to be able to act out their lines and emotions with both hands! The other two lead characters were reindeer, Dancer and Prancer, and both boys' characters were very active, around the stage quite a bit, and they were ecstatic to even be able to RUN across the stage at one point!
We cannot thank you all enough for your donations and the incredible impact it had on our students and providing them with the freedom to really act and express their character the best way possible without being TIED DOWN BY WIRES!! We can't wait to use the microphones in the late winter with the middle school choir, and again for our spring concert with K-4! Thank you, thank you, and have a very happy holiday season!”
With gratitude,
Mrs. Roberts
This classroom project was brought to life by an anonymous donor and one other donor.