Springbrook Instrumental Music Program Receives Grant for Instruments

At the beginning of this school year, the instrumental music students at Springbrook were excited to see there were a few new instruments. In the past, Mr. Wyman Jones, the director of the instrumental music program had to scramble and be very creative to make sure that all students had properly working instruments. This year this has been a little easier because of a generous grant from Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation.

Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation is a national organization that supports music education by donating and repairing instruments. Because many of the instruments used by students at Springbrook were old and in disrepair, the Band Director, Mr. Wyman O. Jones decided something needed to be done. The limited budget of the music program does not have enough money to keep all the instruments in good working order. Last year at the music festival that the band attended in Boston , the baritone saxophone actually had to be taped together, because it fell apart just before the band's performance time. Even with this obstacle the band went on to win first place in the competition. With the help of one of the instrumental booster club parents', Mr. Jones applied to the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation for a grant to buy new instruments and to repair other instruments.

It was just a few weeks before the end of last year's school session that Mr. Jones received notification that Springbrook received the grant. So by the beginning of this year, the band was better equipped to make great sounds. "This grant has been a wonderful asset to the instrumental music program. With the new and working instruments we can focus on the music and not worry about these instruments falling apart" Mr. Jones explained. "We have and will continue to need resources to repair or buy new instruments, but Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation gave us a short reprieve, for which I am enormously grateful."

The new instruments acquired were a bass trombone, a tenor saxophone and a clarinet and several instruments have been repaired because of the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation grant support.

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