Students Play a New Tune Thanks to DMPS Foundation
A Madison student tries out a brand new trumpet, courtesy of the DMPS Foundation.
It felt like a party this morning in the band room at Madison Elementary School, as students were excitedly opening boxes to see what was inside.
In a way, it was a party of sorts as students were opening gifts courtesy of the Des Moines Public Schools Foundation … brand new musical instruments!
Band teacher William Beyer and his students at Madison were the first to receive and unbox the new instruments.
In total, the DMPS Foundation latest donation to the school district totals $31,000 for instruments, scholarships, and after school programs. Some specifics of their recent support includes:
- 120 instruments were purchased to give students access to band and orchestra throughout the school district who might not already have the opportunity.
- 11 students will have a full ride scholarship to the Summer Middle School Band Camp.
- Students at schools in the North High feeder pattern will have an opportunity to pilot a Mariachi Program to help get students involved in after school programs.
Joining the celebration at Madison this morning to hear the first notes played on the fresh-out-of-the-box instruments were School Board member Connie Boesen, Foundation board member Nancy Bobo, the district’s Performing Arts Director Ryan Rowley, and principal Cory Heaberlin.
Madison Elementary School is part of a growing emphasis on the importance of arts’ education in Des Moines Public Schools. Madison – along with Cattell, Findley, Harding and Oak Park schools – is a participant in the Turnaround Arts program, an initiative sponsored by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities to use the arts to support improvements in all areas of education. The program is already making a difference in schools on the north side of Des Moines. At Findley, one of the first eight schools in the nation to participate in Turnaround Arts, a recent national report noted the significant gains made in reading and math.
And Mr. Beyer is already seeing a change at Madison. He notes that two years ago, no students participated in band programs. Last year 9 students took part in band and this year it’s more than 20.
Thanks to the support of the DMPS Foundation, those numbers – and the success of our students – will continue to rise.
