PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL

September 26, 2007

150 instruments will mean students can make music

Sean Dugas sdugas@pnj.com

Ashmore Auditorium at Pensacola Junior College was filled Tuesday evening with the sound of music and the excited voices of local middle school students.

During a ceremony at the auditorium, Bravo for Kids presented about 150 new musical instruments to
Pensacola Bay Area middle schools. It was the fourth year that Bravo for Kids has given away instruments.

The instruments — ranging from tubas and trumpets to bassoons and baritones — were purchased with money donated by IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area, JME Realty, AIG American General Insurance and the Escambia County School Board.

The total donations, about $133,000, were enough to buy instruments for every middle school in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.

Santa Rosa School Superintendent John Rogers said the donated instruments will allow schools to replace others that are more than 30 years old.

"We know that students who participate in band also do well academically," he said. "So music programs are a vital part of our curriculum. But we don't have the money to replace all of these instruments ourselves."

In an era when many schools are struggling financially to keep liberal arts programs alive, Bill Dollarhide —owner of Dollarhide Music and one of the individuals who spearheaded the Bravo for Kids program — said the community's commitment to maintaining liberal arts can be seen by its generosity.

"This shows how important music is to our community," he said. "It is our hope that these instruments will allow children who otherwise would not be in band to get involved."

Elizabeth Shald, 14, an eighth-grade student at Brown Barge Middle School, grinned as she played the new bassoon her school received. While the school has two other bassoons, Elizabeth said the new one is much easier to play.

"It's so much better than the old ones," she said. "The old ones had a lot of dings and didn't sound as nice."

Caleb Curl, a 13-year-old Woodham Middle School student, has been playing the saxophone for five years, but Tuesday was the first time he played a new one.

"Some kids can't afford new instrument, so this is great for them," he said. "And I'm thankful to have a new instrument, also."

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