From: Will Boartfield
The Millbrook Middle School band received several new percussion instruments on May 5. The instruments were purchased with Alabama Arts Education Initiative grant funds. The grant is made available through the Alabama Education Budget and administered by the Alabama State Dept. of Education.
We were notified in February that we had received the $10,000.00 AAEI grant. $8,000.00 is earmarked for purchasing new percussion equipment. The Parents In Tune Band Boosters are going add additional funding to round out the purchase budget.
We have used the AAEI Grant funds to purchase a new Vibraphone and Xylophone, new bars for our Marimba, 4 new concert toms, Granite Temple Blocks, and a Suspended cymbal. These instruments are “big ticket items” and we wouldn’t have been able to purchase them without the AAEI Grant Funds. This infusion of new percussion instruments will set our current and future band members up for success and will have a decades long positive effect on the MMS and SE band programs.
On behalf of the school and students I would like to thank some of the people who made this possible – Alabama State Superintendent Dr. Mackey, ECPS Superintendent Richard Dennis, Principal Ayena Jackson, ALSDE Arts Specialist Andy Meadows, SEHS Band Director Wesley Morris, and The Parents In Tune Band Boosters.
We would like to extend additional thanks to our elected officials State Rep. Will Dismukes and State Sen. Clyde Chambliss for including the AAEI grant funding in the Alabama Education Budget along with our Millbrook area school board members Mr. Dale Bain, Mr. WendellSaxon, and Mr. David Jones for their continued support.
