We collaborated with amazing band leader Beckie Griswold at the Kittitas School District. She was kind enough to answer some questions about the school itself and the impact of the donated instruments: 

 

1.  How many kids are in the school district and about how many kids are in the Band/Music program?

Kittitas School District has roughly 700-750 students between the elementary and secondary schools. Middle school and high school students attend classes in the same building. I am rebuilding the band program which used to be stronger here years ago. Due to Covid and a series of short lived teachers, the band program really suffered. I have more than doubled our numbers since arriving. I only had 10 students in 6th grade band and 14 students in our 7th-12th grade concert band in fall of 2022. This year (2023-2024 school year) I have 22 students in 6th grade band and 34 in concert band. Those numbers are growing little by little as we are bringing music back into our school again.

 

2.  Can you share the impact of the instruments? 

Northwest Instrument's generous donation to our school will greatly benefit our student population and community. We have many families that cannot afford the cost of renting or buying a decent instrument to play, therefore many kids do not get the chance to do band. Now, with so many more instruments, more opportunities have been created to bring music into many more lives and get instruments into student's hands. This can be life changing for a student who struggles with school and/or the realities of home life. Many of my students have let me know that band is the very best part of their day. If we have the chance to bring that feeling and opportunity to life for more students, we will ultimately better our school and community as a whole. Your donation will continue to have that lasting impact in Kittitas. Thank you!

 

3.  Can you share any particular challenges you currently face or have faced in the past as a music teacher so far? 

Music programs and arts in general are being cut more and more state and nation-wide. As the cost of living goes up, so rises the costs to schools who have to try and allocate most of the money to core education. Unfortunately, the arts are the first things to go when money is tight.  While it is known that the arts, and particularly music, promotes creative thinking and other skills that help achieve higher scores in core classes, the cost to properly fund those programs is often why they get cut from budgets. Small, rural schools like Kittitas tend to suffer these cuts more often. My challenge for the almost 2 years I have been the district music teacher is to bring awareness to the importance of music and the positive impact it has on student's lives and our community. It has been a tall hill to climb trying to rebuild the music program here in Kittitas, but with help from organizations such as yours, it is more possible to affect positive change and keep arts programs up and running. It would definitely be more challenging without your support, so from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you so much for your hard work in finding instruments for us. We are so grateful! 

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Instruments Donated:

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2 trumpets

4 music stands 

4 alto saxes 

4 clarinets 

4 flutes

1 piccolo 

Temple Blocks 

Gong and mallet 

1 tenor sax 

2 trombones 

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