Please help our band get to the festival!
Donation protected
Thurgood Marshall Academic High School is in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco. The Bayview has a history of economic disadvantage and marginalization. In our school community, many parents work multiple jobs and long hours to keep their families afloat.
Nearly all of our families live significantly below the low-income threshold in this city of riches. About half of our students and their families are recent immigrants to the United States, many having faced poverty and violence in their home countries. They are struggling to find their way while learning a new language.
One language is universal, though: Music.
Our band has long been a beacon to our newcomer students. The sense of community within our music program draws students from all over the school, with our newcomer students in particular finding it a haven and a respite from their daily worries.
Being in the band brings more than simply the joy of making music. Being in the band has given our kids entry to places and experiences they would have never had access to otherwise. Our student musicians have played at events all over San Francisco, including at Carnaval. They have shared their music in front of hundreds of parents and educators at annual school planning summits. They have played on stage with visiting musicians from the New Orleans Preservation Hall.
And now they themselves have an opportunity to go to New Orleans in March of 2020 to play in a national music festival. Money and socioeconomic status should not be the barriers that keep these young musicians from this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
We expect the overall cost of the trip for 12 students, their band teacher, and two chaperones to be just under $20,000. All 12 students will be engaged in fundraising activities (food concessions, t-shirt design and sales, etc.) starting right after Thanksgiving and continuing throughout the time leading up to the event in March.
Our students are ready to put in the work and do their part to reach their goal of playing in this national music festival. We are hoping that the community can help bring that goal a little closer.
Thank you for reading!
Nearly all of our families live significantly below the low-income threshold in this city of riches. About half of our students and their families are recent immigrants to the United States, many having faced poverty and violence in their home countries. They are struggling to find their way while learning a new language.
One language is universal, though: Music.
Our band has long been a beacon to our newcomer students. The sense of community within our music program draws students from all over the school, with our newcomer students in particular finding it a haven and a respite from their daily worries.
Being in the band brings more than simply the joy of making music. Being in the band has given our kids entry to places and experiences they would have never had access to otherwise. Our student musicians have played at events all over San Francisco, including at Carnaval. They have shared their music in front of hundreds of parents and educators at annual school planning summits. They have played on stage with visiting musicians from the New Orleans Preservation Hall.
And now they themselves have an opportunity to go to New Orleans in March of 2020 to play in a national music festival. Money and socioeconomic status should not be the barriers that keep these young musicians from this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
We expect the overall cost of the trip for 12 students, their band teacher, and two chaperones to be just under $20,000. All 12 students will be engaged in fundraising activities (food concessions, t-shirt design and sales, etc.) starting right after Thanksgiving and continuing throughout the time leading up to the event in March.
Our students are ready to put in the work and do their part to reach their goal of playing in this national music festival. We are hoping that the community can help bring that goal a little closer.
Thank you for reading!
Organizer
Jennifer Magnone
Organizer
San Francisco, CA
