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| E.K. Sloane |
Below is an uplifting column that would warm E.K.'s heart. It is written by Toney L. McNair Jr., who heads the choral music department at Indian River Middle School in Chesapeake, which recently received a Sloane piano.
This is from the Chesapeake Clipper on March 1, 2015. The Clipper is a community section focused on Chesapeake Virginia that is part of The Virginian-Pilot newspaper.
By Toney L. McNair Jr. guest column
WITH LIMITED funding and resources
available for education, teachers are often challenged with providing a quality
educational environment to inspire their students. For example, 345 of the 760
students at Indian River Middle School are enrolled in chorus, band or
orchestra. Our music program is part of the fabric that makes our school
unique.
That is why, after our spring concert in May
2014, I decided our students needed a new piano. We had been rolling our old
Korg piano back and forth from the chorus room to the auditorium for the past
15 or more years. It was barely holding on to its dolly and the keys were just
screaming, “One more note, really?”
Our students deserved better, and it was time
to put the kids first and not be limited by the resources we didn’t have.
After several conversations with my school’s
principal, I was given the approval to look for a new piano. But there was a
caveat: my students and I would have to raise the money ourselves with the hope
of receiving matching funds from what was already a limited school budget. That
would be a great feat because I typically used our fundraising efforts to
purchase choir uniforms each year. To make the effort even more challenging, a
new principal was assigned to our school at the end of June, just as I had
vigorously begun my pursuit of a new instrument.
Thinking I had to start over getting approval
to pursue my quest, I met with Principal Terre Werts. After greeting me, her
next words were, “So, I understand that we need a new piano ... let’s make it
happen!” Well, that was all I needed and wanted to
hear.
As we continued to talk, we decided to seek
advice from Chesapeake schools supervisor of music Craig Robertson. Not long
after making contact with Mr. Robertson, he informed me of a funding source
known as the E. K. Sloane Fund, which is managed by the Hampton Roads Community
Foundation.
This organization, I was told, provides
funds to school districts in need of pianos. Amazing! I could not believe what
I was hearing. I reviewed the grant application, and my school’s administration
enthusiastically encouraged me to submit it.
With my choral winter concert just a couple of months
away, my hope was that we would receive grant approval in time for our performance.
I wanted a more professional sounding instrument accompanying us. One week
before our concert, we were awarded a grant for $9,687 from the Sloane Fund.
Thanks to my school administration working feverishly with the grant source,
the Piano and Organ Warehouse and Thomas Brothers Moving Company, I was
able to serenade our staff and students on our new baby grand Yamaha piano –
all in time for our Winter Holiday Concert. We could hardly contain
ourselves.
What started as a small idea became the talk of
our community. Our kids deserve the best, and all of us have learned a very
valuable lesson: determination can be the vehicle for reaching your
destination.
This is truly what can happen when we work
together. “Put Kids First!”
The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is
southeastern Virginia’s largest grant and scholarship provider. Since its
founding in 1950, the regional community foundation and its donors have
provided nearly $200 million in grants and scholarships to improve life in southeastern
Virginia.
Toney L. McNair Jr., D. Min., is department
chair and choral music teacher at Indian River Middle
School.
(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is among nearly 750 community foundation around the country serving specific geographic regions. It is the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia and manages more than 400 charitable funds created by donors from all walks of life. Over the decades it has provided more than $195 million to improve life for residents living in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, including the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. It also serves people in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, including Accomack and Northampton counties. Learn more at hamptonroadscf.org. You can click here to locate a community foundation near you. )
