Evans School Gets Big Donation: Musical Instruments For Students
EVANS, Colo. (CBS4) - Thousands of students in Weld County will be exposed to greater music education thanks to donors from around the country. As part of the Take Note Colorado initiative, donors are working to give access to musical instruments to every student in the state.
The Newport Festivals Foundation, KEEN Footwear and more teamed up with singer Nathaniel Rateliff to provide $20,000 worth of new music instruments to Chappelow K-8 Arts Magnet School in Evans. Students were surprised with new guitars, drums and more.
"I'm really happy to have this donation come to my own town," said Mary Claxton, a member of Little Kids Rock and Take Note Colorado. "Seeing their palpable excitement is so huge. We have a large immigrant and refugee population. So, those kids really got served through this donation."
Seventh grader Paige Oziah told CBS4's Dillon Thomas the donations reaffirmed her excitement for exploring a future in music.
"(Music) just helps you express yourself in many different ways," Oziah said. "It makes your life so much richer. (The donation) was so amazing because everybody was so happy and so excited. Having every child have access to an instrument is really important."
Nearly 700 students attend Chappelow, and all are involved in performing arts of some sort. Some said the donation would greater expose the children to the music realm.
"A lot of times instruments are tough to come by. They don't always own their own instruments," said Tom Nugent, Director of Orchestras at the school.
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"We worked with Take Note and Bohemian Foundation to work with the schools and identify the instruments in need," said Dan Swain, Foundation and Development Manager for Newport Festivals Foundation.
Thanks to the donors, and the Take Note initiative, students will have access to the new instruments starting next week.
"We get to do so much more with our lives now that we have instruments to play," Oziah said.
LINK: Take Note Colorado