Maplewood Elementary School to Host the 2016 Music In Our Schools – Music Inspires Tour
March marked the 31st annual Music In Our Schools Month®. And over six weeks in March and April, six schools around the United States are hosting celebrations no student would want to miss.
On April 15, 2016, Maplewood Elementary School in Puyallup, Washington (Pierce County), will be the final school of six schools to be recognized for its music program and be presented a grant for $2,500! Radio Disney artist Ruth B will be joined by Radio Disney on-air personality Nate for the celebration. Maplewood’s school ensemble, Mustang Marimba Madness, will perform prior to the concert and grant presentation.
“My students were thrilled when they found out we had been selected even to make it to the semi-final round of the grant!” said music teacher Maggie Smith. “Our community rallied behind our program, and its crazy music teacher who wore a sandwich board sign at pick-up and handed out fliers to remind people to vote. I got to share the good news that we won the Northwest Division seventeen different times—once for each class. It never got old to see their joy! There were shrieks of delight, standing ovations, and enough smiles to light up our whole school. The students can’t believe they get to meet real celebrities, and the marimba band can’t wait to share the stage at this wonderful concert.
“The students are especially excited because we are able to combine the grant money with money from an all-school benefit concert to purchase four new marimbas for our classroom,” said Ms. Smith. “We also plan to combine a small portion of the grant money with funding from other district sources to support our annual marimba tour, where the marimba band travels and performs for other students both in and outside our district.”
Last October, Radio Disney on-air personality Brooke Taylor and Give a Note President and Board Chair Beth Slusher announced the partnership for the third annual Music In Our Schools Tour. Thanks to the generosity of Radio Disney, the 2016 Music In Our Schools – Music Inspires Tour will have a greater reach than ever before.
The kickoff event took place March 19 at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park at Walt Disney World Resorts where Radio Disney artists Carson Lueders and Before You Exit performed during Disney Performing Arts’ Festival Disney awards. Approximately 3,500 students were in attendance during that celebration where the six schools on the Music in Our Schools Tour were introduced.
Schools from all over the nation shared performances of songs that inspired their music students. And this past February, votes were cast to select one school in each of six regions around the United States to receive a grant from the Give a Note Foundation for their music program, a celebration concert with a Radio Disney artist, and a Radio Disney Music Awards (RDMA) “ARDY” Statuette, recognizing the schools as honorary award winners of the 2016 RDMA, music’s biggest event for families.
Radio Disney’s Nate and Radio Disney artist Megan Nicole with Stapleton music teacher Daniel Gibbs.
These six schools are hosting the 2016 Music In Our Schools Tour:
- March 17: Shady Hill Elementary School, Ocala, FL (Marion County); Music Teacher: Sondra A. W. Collins
- March 25: Spanish Fork Junior High School, Spanish Fork, UT (Utah County); Music Teacher: Angela Harman
- April 1: Stapleton Public Schools, Stapleton, NE (Logan County); Music Teacher: Daniel Gibbs
- April 8: Southwest Elementary School, Dexter, MO (Stoddard County); Music Teacher: James Eldreth
- April 15: George A. Jackson Elementary School, Jericho, NY (Nassau County); Music Teacher: Andrea Gonnella
- April 19: Maplewood Elementary School, Puyallup, WA (Pierce County); Music Teacher: Maggie Smith
Music In Our Schools Month® or “MIOSM®” is National Association for Music Education’s (NAfME) annual celebration during March which engages music educators, students, and communities from around the country in promoting the benefits of high quality music education programs in schools.
However, many underserved schools around the country do not receive the support they need to sustain their music programs. This need inspired the creation of Give a Note Foundation, which was established in 2011 by NAfME with a vision of giving every child the opportunity to participate in school music programs. Give a Note shines a spotlight on those areas of need, and the value of music education in the lives of all students, and the great work of the music teachers who reach those students.
Since 2011, Give a Note has given $1.2 million in grants to schools for their music programs, reaching more than 40,000 students in 100 communities. Give a Note has reached 35 states and counting.
Follow the 2016 Music in Our Schools Tour on Instagram and Twitter by following the hashtags #MIOStour, #MIOS2016, and #MusicInspires. See bit.ly/2016MIOStour for details.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Jane Mell Balek
Give a Note Foundation
(703) 860-4000 ext. 228
Janeb@giveanote.org
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