VALE, NORTH CAROLINA – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated a dozen brand new mini-keyboards to the music students at Banoak Elementary School!
“I am so grateful to work with a group of students that are well-behaved and come to class ready to soak up any knowledge and skills I can teach them!” Ms. Holman explains. “Given the opportunity and resources, my students could personally exceed beyond their normal expectations and enhance their musical abilities to the fullest learning to play the piano. When I was six years old, I took piano lessons for a year!”
Research has shown that exposing children to music during early development helps them learn the sounds and meanings of words. Additionally, dancing to music helps children build motor skills while allowing them to practice self-expression. (© 2015 Program for Early Parent Support (PEPS), a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization).
“The music reading skills and experience I gained from that year followed me all the way into my adult life and helped me be able to be ahead of the game when I started playing trumpet in middle school,” she adds.
“It’s one of the many things that helped shape my talents and led me into a career into music education.”
Ms. Holman hopes to give all of her students the same head start into music that she once had by providing exceptional music instruction on the piano. These pianos will allow her the ability to teach multiple students at the same time, just like any other piano class in today’s more modern piano labs.
“It’s proven that using both sides of the brain to read and perform music improves the brain’s learning and reasoning capabilities. The addition of keyboards to my school will not only allow growth in music, but growth in learning ability as well.
Learning to play the piano will transfer over into their overall music experience and the lessons learned will apply to all instruments. Students will use these pianos to play individual pieces of music, accompany songs as a class, and perform for their peers, parents, and the community. Having pianos will tie all the music learning in our class into one place with one instrument. Students will learn how to read rhythms, notes on the staff, and how to confidently perform.”
Thanks to the donations of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like YOU, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation funded Ms. Holman’s project. Keyboards will be delivered in a week!
Ms. Holman expresses her gratitude:
Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Inc.,
Thank you so much for funding my project. I was literally screaming with excitement for my students as they have been asking me all year to learn to play the piano. I’ve been playing since age 6 and can not wait to pass on this knowledge and ability to them. Nothing can ever replace putting an instrument in a child’s hands and teaching them to perform. I can’t thank you enough.
With gratitude,
Ms. Holman
Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation is a 501c3 organization that makes a donation to a school in need of music instruments, supplies, sheet music, and more every week!
Your donation helps us to keep music in schools, while preserving blues heritage. Without your support, we would not be able to reach as many students around the country. We are grateful for your generosity.
To date, KTBA has reached over 62,000 students. If you would like to help us to continue to grow, click here to make a donation! All donations are fully tax-deductible!
Thank you for keeping music education in schools!
