PLEASE SAVE OUR MUSIC PROGRAM!

My name is Sarah Sunnasy and I am a 4th grade teacher at Helen Marie Smith Elementary, a Title 1 public elementary school located in urban Las Vegas, Nevada. Due to Clark County School District budget shortfalls, we are being forced to eliminate our Music program. To keep the program, we need to raise approximately $110,000 by October 14, 2026 . This is vital because once a program is cut, it is extremely difficult to restore.

Our school was even featured on our local news, partly because of our amazing new music room! That room will now sit empty and silent if we do not meet our fundraising goal. Not only that, but many of the extracurriculars that the Music program provides will no longer take place. Things such as choir, multicultural presentations, March Music Madness, and our talent show. These are things that keep kids coming to school.

We are a Title 1 school. For families who cannot afford private lessons, instruments, or transportation to outside programs, school is the only place kids have the opportunity for structured music instruction. Eliminating our program will make music classes impossible for most of our students. Preserving it helps ensure that access to music does not depend on a family's financial situation. It literally evens the playing field for our students with the most need for the arts.

A study from the National Endowment for the Arts found a link between greater arts involvement and positive academic and civic outcomes among young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. While the study was not based solely on music education, the benefits of early music education are undeniable. Fine and gross motor skills, early language acquisition, mathematics, pattern recognition, improving memory, coordination, teamwork, precision, the idea of 'practice makes progress'... the list goes on and on. (To read the study, click here.)

KIDS NEED MUSIC!

In music class, children practice listening closely, recognizing patterns, keeping a steady beat, and coordinating sound with movement. Singing and rhythm activities give them opportunities to work with language, counting, and memory. Making music together requires students to attend to one another, follow a shared tempo, and contribute to a group effort.

Music also makes progress audible. A rhythm that feels difficult at first can become familiar through practice. Children can hear what their effort has accomplished. That experience gives concrete meaning to “practice makes progress” and creates room for confidence, expression, and joy at school.

The money raised will cover the cost of our Music program, including the licensed teacher's salary and benefits for one school year.

Our students deserve the opportunity to discover what they can create. We ask for your support in keeping music part of their education before the funding deadline closes that opportunity.