RISING SUN, IN – Thanks to your donations, Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation donated a brand new Student Model Prelude by Conn-Slemer Alto Saxophone to the music program at Switzerland county Elementary School!
“Our school is the larger of the two elementary schools in our district with an average of about 485-500 students,” Ms. Gasser says. Ms. Rachael Gasser teaches music at SCES.
“Our 5th and 6th-grade bands have more than doubled the past three years with up to 63 members strong. We are a struggling and low socioeconomic status school and community with 59% of our students eligible for free or reduced lunch. A majority of our students and families are not able to rent a band instrument from a music store and therefore rely on playing school-owned instruments.”
Due to the increasing student numbers, the instrument inventory at Switzerland County Elementary is in desperate need of more instruments of higher quality and durability.
“Our band students perform twice a year for our community as well as on a monthly basis for our school in our character counts parades. My students are still excited about band and need more instruments and supplies.”
Keeping the Blues Alive Strives to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged youth and the music programs that make efforts to strengthen them through the power of music! We teamed up with Donors Choose to fund Ms. Gasser’s project of bringing this brand new saxophone into the woodwind section of their band program! This could not have been accomplished without the support of Joe Bonamassa fans and music lovers like you!
“This saxophone will be used by a variety of students in financial need for many years at our school, Ms. Gasser adds. “With such an increase in student numbers, we needed your help to increase our school instruments. With 59% of our school on free and reduced lunch, our average family could not afford to rent or buy a band instrument from a music store. Therefore, we provided school-owned instruments for those students. Every saxophone in our entire district had been played by various students in financial need for the past three years and we needed more.”
As a result of the fundraiser, Ms. Gasser will be able to grant more children access to music instruments for years to come! We look forward to working with her in the future as well.
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 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 63,000 students by sponsoring over 400 various music projects! The journey has been incredible!
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!
