Melo
10/18/2007, 11:57 PM
So my father was in El Paso judging bands for UIL. He saw a band that really didnt do so well with their performance, and when he made a comment about it later, he was informed that the students in that band were just happy to be there. Come to find out, the students are quite poor, most of them not even owning their own instruments. Some of the families dont even have running water in their home. :eek:
Mountain View, part of the Clint Independent School District, is in a poor town populated by migrant farm workers where many homes lack running water. The district, whose school board was recently named the state's best by the Texas Association of School Boards, serves about 10,000 students at 12 campuses.
Of the 1,060 students at Mountain View, 100 percent qualify for free and reduced-price meals, according to recent school data. The school does not have an orchestra or a choir.
In contrast, Money magazine listed the Cinco Ranch community as one of top 100 places to live in the U.S. in 2007. Home prices range from $150,000 to more than $1 million, and less than 5 percent of the school's 2,800 students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. In Katy, there are about 54,000 students at 45 campuses."
My father made a comment to his band about how we should be fortunate for what we have, because others do not even have half of that and then told them about what he had encountered. So one of his students came up with the idea to do a fund raiser, and send all the proceeds to help these kids get instruments, etc.
This Saturday, my mother and I will be traipsing around the stadium, taking pictures, so that we can make a huge framed collage of these kids, so we can send it, along with money and instruments, to these kids in El Paso, so that they can put faces to the help they will be receiving.
I just find it to give me that 'warm fuzzy' feeling, knowing that it was HS students who are reaching out to help other people their age with an activity that they share, not the adults.
"The fundraising idea is catching on in Houston, too. H&H Music of Houston has donated four instruments and has promised to repair any donated used instruments before they are sent to El Paso."
Apparently, there are already some trumpets and french horns donated.
Linkage (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5216844.html)
Also, click here (http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=7224402&nav=AbC0) and towards the left hand side, there is a section that says 'top video'. Its a clip from tv about these kids. (Apparently you have to open it with internet explorer).
Anyways - I thought it was a really good thing that these kids are doing. It made me smile to think of people my age reaching out to help others who need it. Ill be writing my check for the band and attending. Hope you all can get a smile, too.
Mountain View, part of the Clint Independent School District, is in a poor town populated by migrant farm workers where many homes lack running water. The district, whose school board was recently named the state's best by the Texas Association of School Boards, serves about 10,000 students at 12 campuses.
Of the 1,060 students at Mountain View, 100 percent qualify for free and reduced-price meals, according to recent school data. The school does not have an orchestra or a choir.
In contrast, Money magazine listed the Cinco Ranch community as one of top 100 places to live in the U.S. in 2007. Home prices range from $150,000 to more than $1 million, and less than 5 percent of the school's 2,800 students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. In Katy, there are about 54,000 students at 45 campuses."
My father made a comment to his band about how we should be fortunate for what we have, because others do not even have half of that and then told them about what he had encountered. So one of his students came up with the idea to do a fund raiser, and send all the proceeds to help these kids get instruments, etc.
This Saturday, my mother and I will be traipsing around the stadium, taking pictures, so that we can make a huge framed collage of these kids, so we can send it, along with money and instruments, to these kids in El Paso, so that they can put faces to the help they will be receiving.
I just find it to give me that 'warm fuzzy' feeling, knowing that it was HS students who are reaching out to help other people their age with an activity that they share, not the adults.
"The fundraising idea is catching on in Houston, too. H&H Music of Houston has donated four instruments and has promised to repair any donated used instruments before they are sent to El Paso."
Apparently, there are already some trumpets and french horns donated.
Linkage (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5216844.html)
Also, click here (http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=7224402&nav=AbC0) and towards the left hand side, there is a section that says 'top video'. Its a clip from tv about these kids. (Apparently you have to open it with internet explorer).
Anyways - I thought it was a really good thing that these kids are doing. It made me smile to think of people my age reaching out to help others who need it. Ill be writing my check for the band and attending. Hope you all can get a smile, too.