This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
My students are 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, and they come from many diverse backgrounds, with a majority being of West Indian heritage. My school is a Title I school in which 85% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch. The school has a Performing Arts Department that has made a name for itself well outside the bounds of our neighborhood.
Our performing arts department creates a truly unique community that students are able to thrive in, well beyond space and material limitations.
It is my hope to further enrich the experience of my students through music by instilling them with the same joy I have felt every time I pick up my instrument.
My Project
In the three years since starting my band program, my group has grown exponentially, but unfortunately, our supply of instruments has not. I inherited a stock of instruments purchased between the 80s and 90s that were used and abused for decades before being stored unused for years. Unfortunately, many of them are unusable. I have attempted various methods of repair to varying degrees of success, but the simple fact is that we desperately need new instruments in order for my students to play without sharing.
My students love playing their instruments, but unfortunately with the small number we have, it is not possible for them to take their instruments home in order to practice, and asking them to rent an overpriced horn from a music store is simply out of the question.
My goal is to add some new instruments to our stock in order to allow students to play instruments that are not being passed around between four students, in order to give them additional practice time and empower them in their musical journey.
More than three‑quarters 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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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Oberlin and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
