Maplewood Elementary – Puyallup, Washington
On April 19th, we finished out the 2016 Music In Our Schools Tour in Puyallup, Washington! Radio Disney’s Nate hosted the final concert featuring the Mustang Marimba Madness conducted by Ms. Maggie Smith. Ruth B performed three songs acoustically and presented a $2500 grant on behalf of Give A Note to the Maplewood Elementary music program.
“My students were thrilled when they found out we had been selected even to make it to the semi-final round of the grant!” said music teacher Maggie Smith. “Our community rallied behind our program, and its crazy music teacher who wore a sandwich board sign at pick-up and handed out fliers to remind people to vote. I got to share the good news that we won the Northwest Division seventeen different times—once for each class. It never got old to see their joy! There were shrieks of delight, standing ovations, and enough smiles to light up our whole school. The students can’t believe they get to meet real celebrities, and the marimba band can’t wait to share the stage at this wonderful concert.
“The students are especially excited because we are able to combine the grant money with money from an all-school benefit concert to purchase four new marimbas for our classroom,” said Ms. Smith. “We also plan to combine a small portion of the grant money with funding from other district sources to support our annual marimba tour, where the marimba band travels and performs for other students both in and outside our district.”
Press: http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/education/article72287287.html
