Past projects 30
Can You Hear It?
Funded May 8, 2024Thank you for your kindness and generosity. My students and I are grateful for your support of music education in our rural elementary school. This speaker should meet our classroom needs for many years. We have been getting more and more frustrated with the failing speakers in here and I cannot wait to tell them the good news.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell
This classroom project was brought to life by Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation and 3 other donors.Piano Roll Blues
Funded Apr 17, 2024Thank you so much for pitching in and helping this project reach funding. The students who once used this piano have gone to junior high and I am so excited to tell the current students the good news. We are so thankful for donors like you who help make our dreams a reality.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell
This classroom project was brought to life by Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation and 8 other donors.Guitars 4 All!
Funded Mar 25, 2021When this project was originally funded, the guitars were on backorder after a similar project was funded. My principal chipped in with school funds to get a nice storage rack because I told him eight new guitars were coming and we needed a place to put them. The kids named each guitar just as they did with the ukuleles.
When we jam, students may choose guitar, ukulele, keyboards and we are never short of guitars. When everyone came back to school from covid shutdown, we had enough that nobody had to share for full guitar lessons. We are so thankful for all the instruments and supplies donated over the years. We have a full class set of guitars and that is exciting for any elementary student.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell
This classroom project was brought to life by Stahl Family Fund and 56 other donors.Guitars for More
Funded Mar 22, 2021When this project was originally funded, the guitars were on backorder and then a similar project was funded. My principal chipped in with school funds to get a nice storage rack because I told him eight new guitars were coming and we needed a place to put them.
When we jam, students may choose guitar, ukulele, keyboards and we are never short of guitars. We have a full class set of guitars and that is exciting for any elementary student. The kids named each guitar just as they did with the ukuleles. We are so thankful for all the instruments donated over the years.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell
Chopstick? Forks? Piano!
Funded Mar 27, 2021My students and I were thrilled when we first got our new piano keyboards. These twelve keyboards combined with my first six gave us a full class set! No more sharing. When I got batteries for them all, it was so much fun to see them excited for piano.
Showing them the chopsticks and forks on the keyboard, we could easily find C and F. A friend said she has younger students label the keys with dry erase so we tried that. Eventually, these students will not need to label anymore.
We tried using our keyboards with some of the supplemental youtube videos out there for boomwhackers. Eventually we will be playing chords, short melodies and ostinatos. We could never get to these steps without your help and we appreciate your gift so much.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell
This classroom project was brought to life by Stahl Family Fund and one other donor.Zany Zwubber Bands
Funded Mar 13, 2020Thank you for your contribution to our class. The Zwubberbands arrived at the beginning of the year and I had some initial hesitation to use them due to all the social distancing and sanitizing. Since we only had half classes on half days, I had enough for each 3rd grader to have their own. They absolutely loved them. Touching anything in music was a thrill after all those months of isolation. I was able to throw them in our school dryer for the deep cleaning day.
We did pass around the connected one on a day when we thought the restrictions were going to be lighter. Then we locked down again. Unfortunately, it has been one thing or another and the opportunities to use them are fleeting. We are looking forward to using them more and more this spring. They are so much fun. My students and I really appreciate your kind support.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell
Ukuleles for More
Funded Dec 3, 2019I apologize for taking so long to say thank you. The ukuleles arrived last Christmas and then I was dealing with a family emergency. We were able to use all the ukuleles for a few weeks before covid. I only got a few pictures before schools were shut down.
This year, we started with half classes on half days. I was able to assign each 5th grader (last years 4th grade class) their own ukulele since they were not able to share across different days. It was truly a blessing having each student who came to in-person their own ukulele to take home for the rest of the week.
In our 25 minute classes, I still didn't get many pictures but we played start to finish, making every minute count. I think these classes were able to play far more than we have in previous years. My students and I really thank you for your contribution to our class.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 6 other donors.With my Banjolele on my Knee
Funded Dec 3, 2019Everyone who picks up the banjolele cannot help but smile at the way it feels and sounds. Many students picked it up in the short time we had it before school shut down. For ukulele portions of class, students would ask to play it and I would offer it as a reward for good playing.
Since the fingerboard and strings are about the same size as the ukuleles we use in class, many were able to make the switch with ease. The different sound that comes out of it was so pleasant as their eyes lit up with joy and they grinned from ear to ear.
The addition of this instrument inspired one student to get one of her own and now takes private lessons. We played it during recess several times before school ended early and I know that this is one instrument they will look forward to next season.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell
This classroom project was brought to life by An anonymous classroom supporter and 7 other donors.All the Small Things
Funded Jan 23, 2020Thank you for your donations to our music program. All these small things usually go unnoticed but are absolutely necessary as we get closer to our performances. The great news is the products arrived with plenty time for us to rehearse. The bad news is we have not had a chance to rehearse with them. We were sent home just before we would have started working on the stage for the primary program. The talent show, and 6th grade graduation performance never happened and that is when these materials would have had quite a workout.
The great news is these materials will be ready for use in the fall. We usually put on a really nice fall show with 5th and 6th graders. Picks are almost lost as much as pencils. Strings break and guitar cables wear out with use. In previous years, I was left scrambling around and borrowing cables from friends at the last minute when a cable would fail. Next year, we will be ready.
I am most excited about the extra long speaker cable. A few years ago, we started the year with a new sound system and it has so far served our needs for numerous projects. The speaker cables that came with it put the amp in the center of the stage with the speakers on both sides. I have wanted to try putting the amp and iPad to the side and with this extra long cable, we will be able to do that. I love when I can get out of the way and let the students really shine.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell
This classroom project was brought to life by Anonymous Arts Supporter and 4 other donors.Musician's Gear for Music Lab
Funded Jan 6, 2020Thank you for your generous gifts to my music class. When we use laptops, chromebooks, or tablets in my room, they do not bring with them the headphones. When they use them in other classes, the applications they use are usually silent and they might not even have headphones with every class. Bringing devices to music class to experiment with loops and other music applications could get pretty noisy.
Although I had several old headphones from computer lab upgrades, we really needed more headphones for the whole class. If just one student was without, it was throwing off the whole class.
The first day we used the new headphones, the students commented how comfortable they were. The leather that covers their ears is very soft. They also sound really good. Another thing we noticed was the extra long cord. If they wanted to share what they were working on with me or a friend, they did not have to necessarily carry the laptop with them.
While these things may sound small, they make quite an impact in the music class on technology days. Music technology can sometimes be stressful enough and this was one less thing we had to worry about, thanks to donors like you.”
With gratitude,
Mr. Russell