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In 2002, PS 161, Harlem, NY received a keyboard lab from the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. Previously, PS 161 did not have a music program. Each year, Principal Barbara Brown budgeted to grow the school’s instrument inventory, music resources and music staff. Within just a few years, students at PS 161 not only have access to a keyboard lab, but also now have the opportunity to partake in a band and string orchestra program. The school has also partnered with many community resource programs to enhance students’ music education and has seen test results in all subject areas improve each year. They attribute much of this success to the school music program. |
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Hampstead Hill Academy, Baltimore, MD received a donation of band instruments from the VH1 Save The Music Foundation in 2002 and instantly attracted 26 students to the band. The following year the program doubled in size. Teachers have noted that the students enrolled in the band are better behaved, more focused, have higher grades and test scores than those students who are not in band. Students are eager and excited to play instruments, come in early and stay after school to practice, have become more integrated into the school with an increasingly diverse group of friends, have improved self esteem, and several students were recommended for the All-City Honors Band. Students in the band have become leaders in the school as members of the student council, the junior chapter of the Tri-M Music Honor Society, the academic honor roll, and the school newspaper staff. The program has grown quickly to include two bands, a group for beginners and a group for more advanced students, a small percussion ensemble, and plans are in place to add a jazz band. |
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Alexander Mitchell School, Milwaukee, WI - When the VH1 Save The Music Foundation first began working with the Milwaukee Public Schools in 2001, there were 66 elementary schools without an instrumental music program. In 2005, the Milwaukee Public Schools and VH1 Save The Music celebrated a total of $1.6 million worth of new musical instruments granted to 66 Milwaukee Public Schools, ensuring that all students in Milwaukee have access to the benefits of music education. In 2001, Milwaukee’s Alexander Mitchell School received a keyboard lab from the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. The school administration and music teachers have reported an increase in school attendance due to students’ interest in the music program. Since receiving the keyboard lab, the Alexander Mitchell School has added a school band and more than 130 students participate in the band which performs throughout the community. The success of the music program at the Alexander Mitchell School is just one example of many in Milwaukee. |
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Christopher Columbus Middle School, Los Angeles, CA received a guitar lab from the VH1 Save The Music Foundation during the 2005-2006 school year. Monique Brusca, the instrumental music teacher and Sandy Collins, the principal at Christopher Columbus, felt the guitar lab would be a great way to incorporate instrumental music instruction with the latest classroom technology. As soon as the high school to which the students go after middle school found out about the grant of guitars, the high school music teacher and principal immediately purchased a classroom full of guitars for the students to continue their studies throughout their educational careers. Each day, students are found waiting outside of the guitar classroom eagerly asking Ms. Brusca when they will have the opportunity to take the guitar class offered at their school. The school staff have reported that the new music program has engaged students who had previously appeared disinterested in school. |
Published articles featuring successful VH1 Save The Music Foundation schools: Harlem's PS161 Creates A Music Program Where The "Extraordinary Is Ordinary" |
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