The N. Colonie School District has a group set out on a mission to raise money to bring the school new instruments
As schools are suffering from lack of funding and are looking to cut certain programs in order to balance their budgets, a group of North Colonie School District parents and teachers are trying to raise money to bring musical instruments to the school district through a different means.
The North Colonie Friends of Music has been accepted as a candidate to receive $50,000 through the Pepsi Refresh Project where people can vote on their favorite idea to win the money. The top ten ideas will receive the funding.
Bill Edwards, treasurer of the group and a Certified Public Accountant, said the group was asked a few years ago to raise money to purchase two Steinway pianos for the junior high school and the high school. The group thought of different ways to raise funds through individual donations, holding fundraising concerts such as one with the Five Browns, which is a group of five siblings from Utah who all play piano, and seeking money though various grants.
We hoped to raise money through applying for various grants but it was more or less bad timing, Edwards remarked on the state of the economy. `Grants just aren’t out there at this time.`
Other than the two pianos, the group is looking to purchase kettle drums for the high school and smaller instruments such as flutes, trumpets or violins for the elementary schools.
After hearing about other organizations such as the Cohoes Music Hall and the Woodside Bible Church in Troy winning grants from the project, Edwards decided to give the competition a shot after a brainstorming session during one of their group meetings.
`We first tried submitting the application back in April,` he said, `but they only accept the first 1,000 submitted. Then we attempted again in May but we were shut out in seconds. I can’t believe how quickly they reach the maximum.
On one fateful night, though, they submitted an application at midnight on July 31. That same night they were told they were one of the first 1,000 applications to be submitted to the website and would go through the review process during the month of August.
`They informed us on September 1 that our application had been reviewed and accepted,` he said. `We were told we were in the running to vote for our idea.`
Edwards said the website does not reveal how many votes they have received on their idea, but said after being stuck in the 160 range out of 386 other entries, they finally broke the barrier and are currently 125 in rank.
`Since school is in session,` he said, `we’ve jumped up quite a bit.`
Deborah Keough, district supervisor of the North Colonie Music Program, said she has notice the steady climb the group’s idea has made and extends her gratitude towards their help in trying to raise these funds.
`They’re outstanding,` she said. `They’re a very committed group of people. They have a large support from the community and people in the district. The parents and the music department really appreciate the work they do.
Edwards added that they have been promoting their idea through the use of mass emails, postings on Facebook, flyers and announcements in both the junior high and high school.
If you want to vote for their idea, go to www.refresheverything.com/northcolonie music or text the message 102357 to 73774.
With a daughter who is a graduate of Shaker High School and a son who is a sophomore at Shaker and plays the trumpet, Edwards said he can see the importance that music education has had on their lives.
`It opens up a lot of avenues for the kids with going to college and after college,` he said. `It opens up opportunities for them.`
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