Press Release - Members Raise Nearly $100,000 for Feed The Children
MENC: The National Association for Music Education Members Raise Nearly $100,000 for Feed The Children
Carver Elementary of Mount Olive, NC, Is Top Fundraising School in Music Teachers™ Campaign to Help Victims of Disasters
RESTON, VA (May 8, 2006) - MENC: The National Association for Music Education presented a donation of nearly $100,000 to Feed The Children (FTC), an international nonprofit relief organization that delivers food, medicine, clothing, and other necessities to individuals, children, and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war, poverty, or natural disaster. The donation was presented to FTC on April 21, 2006, at the Spirit of America concert featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square at MENC™s 60th National Biennial In-Service Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
As part of the campaign, schools nationwide participated in the World™s Largest Concert on March 9, 2006, to focus attention on the importance of music education and to raise support for FTC. MENC encouraged schools to hold fundraisers to support this cause and receive special recognition for their efforts. Each of the Top Fundraising Schools, based on total school participation, will receive a banner and plaque to commemorate their efforts, and each student will receive a pin.
Carver Elementary School in Mount Olive, NC, was the Top Fundraising School. Their fifth- grade chorus hosted a telethon where students pre-taped their professional talents, such as singing, dancing, or playing piano, and ended the program with a performance from the entire chorus. The performances were aired on their school television along with an appeal for students and staff to donate. As the Top Fundraising School, Carver Elementary will be hosting a Feed The Children truck drop on May 23, 2006, to distribute food to 400 families in their community. Music teacher and MENC member Lavone Hicks said this was the first school fundraiser she ever coordinated and was pleased to have a phenomenal response from students, teachers, and the community. If chosen as the top school, Hicks told her students she would stand on the roof for them and sing the national anthem.
Teachers give to their students and communities every day, said David E. Circle, music coordinating teacher for the Blue Valley (Kansas) School District and president of MENC. Students need to learn from their example and this campaign was a real life opportunity for them to show their commitment to help others. Through this initiative, he believes MENC has reached its goal of teaching our youth about the importance of giving while reinforcing a high-quality music education for all.
The Top Fundraising Schools and their music teachers are:
Carver Elementary School, Mount Olive, NC “ LaVone Hicks
John Bassett Moore Intermediate School, Smyrna, DE “ Ruth Alborn
Blue Eye Elementary School, Blue Eye, MO “ Debbie Dopp
Central Catholic Elementary School, DuBois, PA “ Sandra Carnahan
Paynter Elementary School, Pittsburgh, PA “ Nancy Booth
Nottingham School, Oxford, PA “ Rebecca Welk
Fred W. Hill School, Brockport, NY “ Becki Boyanski
Dayton Elementary School, Dayton, PA “ Jo Ellen Stockdale
Magnolia Elementary School, Lumberton, NC “ Angela Carter
Welch Elementary School, Cincinnati, OH “ Susan Hughes
Bevis Elementary School, Cincinnati, OH “ Susan Hughes
MENC will continue to accept donations to the Feed The Children campaign. For more information, call 1-800-336-3768 or visit www.menc.org.
MENC: The National Association for Music Education, the world's largest arts education organization, is the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. More than 120,000 members represent all levels of teaching from preschool to graduate school. Since 1907, MENC has worked to ensure that every student has access to a well-balanced, comprehensive, and high-quality program of music instruction taught by qualified teachers. MENC's activities and resources have been largely responsible for the establishment of music education as a profession, for the promotion and guidance of music study as an integral part of the school curriculum, and for the development of the National Standards for Arts Education.
###