Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation donation extends the gift of music at LPS

March 16, 2023

Goodrich Middle School seventh-grader Marley discovered her passion for the violin in fourth grade. 

“I like playing in the orchestra and the violin because of the people around me. It’s just a fun environment to hang out. I really like sharing my knowledge of music and the music that we play with others,” she said. 

More Lincoln Public Schools students now experience the gift of music thanks to a generous donation from Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. The foundation recently donated string and band instruments worth approximately $122,300 to five LPS schools: Belmont, Clinton and Hartley elementary schools, and Goodrich and Park middle schools. These schools were selected based on their free and reduced lunch percentage. This is the first time LPS has applied for the donation.

The gift will enhance each school’s music inventory by adding instruments and replacing older ones. The new instruments will also help students and families who cannot buy or rent their instruments – widening access to music education in schools.  

“I think it’s a good idea to be getting more instruments because it gives more people a sense of what they might want to do and a chance for more people to get to play the instruments to experiment and understand the true quality of music,” Goodrich eighth grade student Yman said. 

“Without this gift, there would be the possibility that I would have to turn students away or not be able to give them their first choice in instrument. The gratitude I feel for this gift cannot be measured in words, but only in the lives that are impacted through music we can create with the gift,” elementary school music teacher John Bailey said. He helps teach band at Hartley Elementary School. 

Goodrich orchestra director Sarah Baker added,“Public education is defined by the responsibility to provide for every student that walks through the door. This gift of instruments means I'll be able to meet the needs of more students, especially those without the financial means to access the opportunity outside of school."

LPS will receive approximately 110 new instruments from the foundation. They will be distributed to the five schools by the end of the year. 

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