When students return to Pleasant View Elementary School on Monday, they will find the band and orchestra instrumental options have opened up. An award of 19 gently used instruments has been added for their use.
Laurie Arnold-Kelly, Parent Teachers Association president and piano teacher, applied for a grant from Colorado Public Radio. And the school in Golden received two cellos, a viola, two violins, two alto saxophones, two flutes, two clarinets, one tuba, two French horns, two trumpets and three snare drums, with stands.
CPR community program director Steve Blatt said the goal was to give the instruments to kids who might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn an instrument. The focus was on schools with a high proportion of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch.
“Kids learn a lot of skills playing an instrument,” Blatt said. “It’s the idea that if you stick with something and work at it, it improves your self-esteem. That’s a good foundation for doing other things.”
Students will be allowed to take the instruments home to practice, and there is no fee.
“These are instruments students have been asking to play,” Pleasant View principal Janace Fischer said.
The the Golden Music Center will introduce students to the instruments during an assembly this week, Fischer said.
Mary Brainerd, owner of Golden Music Center, recently hired a small staff to help promote music in schools. It’s part of her business to rent instruments to schools and parents, but she is an advocate for early music training and sees budget cuts as a disservice to students.
“It takes teachers 10 to 15 years to build a strong program, and it takes time to get funding and get parents involved,” Brainerd said.
She is aware of the potential cuts that could come to Jeffco schools if ballot initiatives don’t pass this fall.
“It’s all about funding,” Brainerd said.
Karen Groves: 303-954-2303 or kgroves@denverpost.com
