The Santa Maria-Bonita School District band program needs your help to win a $50,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project. The district, with help from the Santa Maria Boys and Girls Club, recently submitted a band instrument grant request called “Music In Their Hearts.” If selected as a winner, the district would be able to buy new instruments for 200 children.
To win, the grant proposal has to be voted into the top 10 entries by the end of November. Music In Their Hearts broke the top 100 vote getters in October, but later dropped significantly in the rankings because people weren’t aware the voting period had been extended, according to district officials.
People interested in voting for the project can do so by texting “103007” to Pepsi (73774), or online at refresheverything.com/musicintheirhearts. Voters can select a winner every day by texting and signing on to the website.
Jessica Husselstein, one of the district’s four band teachers, said the grant process began last spring “when we looked at our budget and knew we weren’t going to get any funding in the next couple of years.
“The instruments are falling into disrepair,” she continued. “They’re like cars; they need to be kept up, and they’re expensive like cars.”
Then Husselstein heard about the Pepsi Refresh Project while watching the Super Bowl. She immediately got approval from the district to start working on a grant and recruited a nonprofit sponsorship from the Boys and Girls Club.
Currently, students interested in band have to enter a lottery system to see if they’ll get picked to play a specific instrument. If they don’t get picked, Husselstein said, they still get to be in band, but either have to play another instrument or just sit in on the lessons.
“Sometimes they get bored or they say, ‘I don’t want to play that instrument,’” she said. “And then we lose them.”
The grant money would be spread across the district’s 19 schools.
School Scene is compiled by Managing Editor Amy Asman. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Nov 18-25, 2010.
