The first things Michael βAronβ MontaΓ±o noticed when he walked into his band class at Craycroft Elementary School on Friday were two black cases sitting in front of the classroom.
In those cases were new baritones to be given to MontaΓ±o and another student, Ariyana Flores.
βThose are our new cases?β MontaΓ±o, 10, said. βIβm on fire!β
When the pair took their seats, their teacher, Mary Acosta, approached them with their new baritones. And as the students opened their cases to reveal the new, shiny, golden baritones, and compared them with their dented and scratched old ones, the kids could not hide their joy.
βIβm, like, bigger-than-the-universe excited,β Flores said.
The Sunnyside Unified School District spent about $1 million in the past year to purchase new musical instruments for all its schools as part of its effort to strengthen its fine arts programs. The district is in the process of distributing the instruments, which were bought using voter-approved bond funds.
Sunnyside has historically had support from governing board and bond advisory members who were willing to fight through budget cuts to maintain fine arts programming, said Jan Vesely, deputy superintendent.
The need for new instruments was obvious, she said. Many of Sunnysideβs students come from high-poverty households and could not afford private music lessons or instruments.
βIf we donβt provide this experience at school, it may not happen at home,β she said.
Sunnyside would not turn away a child who wants to learn to play, but schools were running out of instruments to loan out, as many of them were in bad shape, she said. The last time Sunnyside was able to buy new musical equipment was nearly 40 years ago.
βWe have been repairing and repairing and repairing to the point that some of them just could not be repaired anymore,β Vesely said.
Sunnyside not only wanted to replace old instruments, but also to buy new instruments to build new programs, including jazz, steel drum and rock bands, and enrich existing programs, such as mariachi.
βWeβre just so thrilled to have the opportunity to open up some of this programming for kids that has been nonexistent in our district,β she said.
The purchases started with the new Gallego 4-8 Intermediate Fine Arts School, which opened in July 2015. The district spent about $420,000 to buy state-of-the-art musical instruments and equipment.
Gallego Intermediate was equipped with a music technology lab, where students can learn to play the keyboard or compose and record music, Vesely said. The school also launched a campaign to raise funds for a new performance piano.
The Sunnyside bond advisory committee later approved an additional $600,000 to buy instruments for the rest of Sunnysideβs schools after a committee member learned that students were using equipment that was falling apart.
The outdated equipment was hindering studentsβ musical progress, said Carl McCurry, band director of Gallego Intermediate. Itβs difficult for kids to compete at a higher level when their musical instruments are falling apart.
βWe actually have equipment now that these kids can excel on,β he said. βAnd it doesnβt look like itβs from the junkyard.β
The district wonβt know how the new equipment will affect the studentsβ performance until further down the road, but McCurry said he sees his students becoming more competitive with schools around Tucson.
βI know in the long run, itβs definitely going to make a difference because these kids wonβt be fighting their own instruments,β he said.
