Photo Courtesy of AHS Music Department
In Need of Funds
Photo Courtesy of Arianne Delos Reyes
Music department creates a GoFundMe to keep the program running. By AndreaMarie Lomeli
T
he state of music programs at AHS have deteriorated over the past several years as they have not been given the same affordable funding as other extracurricular activities. The music program has seen decreases in funds, preventing the program from reaching its full potential. “In times past, when we asked for funding from the district, we really didn’t receive anything. I have been here for almost 26 years, and we never received funding. We always funded through boosters and fees. The district assumes that it will be ongoing. Unfortunately, due to some circumstances, they are unable to fund it this year,” music teacher and band director Vernon Miyata said. This year, the music program, which includes the Marching Band, Winter Guard, and Winter Percussion, had to create a fundraiser on GoFundMe. GoFundMe is a for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows organizations to raise money on their website. The music students have been spreading awareness to fundraise and meet the goal of $20,000. The proceeds go to wards supporting replacements or repairs for the instruments and guard equipment in addition to paying the instructors throughout the season, purchasing props, renting trucks, purchasing food to feed the students at competitions, and paying competition fees.
According to Miyata, this is a trend over the last few years because of the decreasing rate of students and families who pay their contributions to the point where it caught up to the boosters. At AHS, boosters are organized to support clubs, sports, and organizations by funding and coordinating events.
“I have been here for almost 26 years, and we never received funding.”
Music teacher and band director Vernon Miyata said
“Unfortunately, this fall, we had only half of the marching band pay their contributions, which is $275 per person. Our boosters had to go into their savings to pay for our instructional help,” Miyata said. The boosters pay for most of the necessities to provide for the program, but this year after the fall season, their booster’s account was left empty. “Now that we are going to the winter season, we have seven competitions and the same needs,” Miyata said. Senior Sophia Duong from marching band hopes that our music program can get the
proper funding to allow students to keep learning music, competing, and creating unforgettable memories in these musical programs. “Although our program may seem small and have not many students, we have learned many valuable life lessons that we could not have possibly learn without this music department,” Duong said. Students cannot be mandated to pay more fees than they already do. According to the the California Constitution, students and parents cannot be required to pay money to gain access to educational activities nor can they be charged for materials and supplies necessary to participate in educational activities. Junior Nayeli Torres Belloso has been participating in the music program all three years. She had paid $250 individually towards the boosters for being in the marching band. “Since we get very little money to support the program, we have to make our own money by doing fundraisers. We need to pay attention to art programs and give more funding to them,” Belloso said. “Art programs are very special and important to many students at AHS, and we need to be able to keep them alive.” •
ARTS & CULTURE
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