Give A Note Foundation

Give A Note Foundation provided the opportunity for my music program to innovate and transform through their support. Programing modern music opportunities and techniques was difficult in a county with no resources to support the growth I was looking to provide my students . Give A Note provided fiscal and in-kind support to grow the popular piano program, ACOBE Festival execution, and contemporary a cappella group at my school! Amazing Non-profit!

Give a Note Foundation is the perfect partner for Practicing Musician in its Equity in Education Rental Program. With a wonderful mission to help bring music education to all students, Give a Note jumped in to help Practicing Musician create an effective fundraiser for school music programs, where every instrument rented by students results in cash grants that Give a Note donates to their school. Thank you, Give a Note!

Over the past year, it’s been a privilege to reestablish a personal and professional relationship with the Give a Note Foundation and its Director, Beth Slusher. After working with the organization during its inception, paths diverged only to be reconnected by the pandemic. Quickly identifying how our organizations could be of help, National Educational Music Co. and the Give A Note Foundation collaborated on several projects designed to assist including fundraising for the Let’s Play Music Fund, advocating for school music on social media and supporting our tireless music teacher heroes by providing valuable content via blogs and seminars.

Any like-minded organization would benefit from seeking opportunities to partner with Give a Note because their Director and Board adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards, displays exceptional creativity in searching for opportunities and overcoming challenges and exhibits unmatched passion to carry forth its mission to support music teachers and student music making.

I have been supporting Give a Note Foundation since Winter 2020 with proceeds from my non-profit custom guitar shop. Over that time they have helped connect me with music educators in the US and learn more about the value of music education in schools.

Their program to support music education over the pandemic by donating modified masks to classrooms was truly innovative.

I am also excited about their Music Technology Empowers grant program to support the use of technology in the classroom for music education.

The Give A Note Foundation was a life-saver for our school district's music program.

At the beginning of the pandemic, we were also under a "spending freeze". We were not permitted to purchase anything until we knew the status of our state and federal aid. Because of that, I reached out to the Foundation to request PPE in the form of specially-made face masks for our brass and woodwind players.

We received them a few short weeks later.

Thanks to this donation, our students were able to rehearse in small group lesson settings, larger ensemble rehearsals; and to perform indoors and outdoors.

I have full faith in the Give A Note Foundation's mission - to help school music programs across the country continue to rehearse and perform during these trying times.

This wonderful organization helped my elementary band to get through the pandemic by donating player masks and bell covers for every single student in the program! Thanks to this generous donation, we were able to meet some days in person to keep the momentum going.
Thank you Give A Note Foundation!

As recipients of one of the Give A Note Foundation awards, my students and I benefitted greatly. Hackensack High School, (located in Hackensack, New Jersey), was able to provide instruments to students in need. We were able to replace many of our older, non-functioning instruments and purchase new instruments to align with a surge in enrollment. We were also able to purchase new computer software for the music department. Because of this, more than 200 students were exposed to a quality music education. We are forever grateful for the support they provide and their mission of keeping the music alive!

I love the creative, thoughtful, and generous ideas that are coming from Give a Note!
They strive to build the performing arts and their educational breadth, by reaching all, especially students and teachers with few resources yet much undiscovered talent.

The stories of these students and teachers, but also the opportunities GAN provides for donation across all ranges are visual, well-crafted, and yet not intrusive. I get just enough reminders that I learn what they are doing, feel good about donating, & know what's on the horizon for the future. I also greatly appreciate that I'm not constantly bombarded with emails, texts, or repetitive information, but know how to find their website.

Recently GAN collaboratively linked up 3 other organizations to coordinate ways to help students enjoy playing music during this pandemic. Clearly they were aware of the science and the real need for musicians & those socially distancing with them to be safe, whether outdoors or in proper indoor settings

Another strength of GAN is that all of their programs connect teachers, students and donors to music education initiatives, nationally and beyond where apropos. The mechanisms by which donors can be a part of it, or connect with their diverse board members are broad; GAN can reach multigenerational donors from social-media driven youth & millennials to those who use more traditional media and other venues for learning about and sharing opportunities.

Hat's off the a great non-profit and imaginative organization and leadership!
I expect them to bring insightful ideas and programs accessible especially

The Give A Note Foundation awarded me with the Music Educator Innovator Award in 2018. Receiving this award was an incredible honor for me as a music teacher. It brought a lot of positive attention to my program, my school and generated interest from many teachers throughout the region. Most importantly, the award came with a $4000 grant for me to spend to improve my program.

As a result of the GAN funding, I was able to purchase two AKG C-414 condenser microphones, one Electro Voice RE-20 microphone, one Avantone CV-95 condenser microphone, a vocal shield, and a microphone stand. The acquisition of these microphones had an immediate and immense impact on the quality of all the student recordings. The new gear improved student recordings for Music Production curricular projects and recordings for the York Album Project and LP Project. These microphones have increased the quality of recordings of vocals, drums, acoustic instruments, and amplified instruments. The versatility of these microphones has improved the music production and recording experience for all students involved in the program. We have been able to create a more professional sounding album without having to rely on hardly any outside studio resources. These new tools have improved the recording quality, allowed students a more professional studio experience, and has given them exposure to studio standard microphones.

In addition to improving the quality of the recording experience for the Music Production students and musicians involved in the York Album Project, I launched a new component to the program during the 2018-19 school year called the LP Project. I invited student groups and solo artists to write, record, and release a full length LP. I invited 7 groups to participate in this recording project. They began writing and recording material in the fall and 6 of the 7 groups released an album at the end of the school year. There was a live event in April to celebrate the work these artists completed. This live event was recorded by a professional sound engineer and filmed by a professional videographer. Each group will get a copy of the video of their live set and a subscription to DistroKid to release their LP and any other music they’d like to release for a year. The LP project was a huge success and allowed me to gain more perspective on how to improve it for the future. I was able to see what a group of students were able to accomplish during the course of a school year, inside and outside of the classroom. The recordings sound amazing and each artist also contributed a song to the York Album Project. Younger musicians witnessed the standard being raised for all future recording projects and were already talking about wanting to be part of the LP next year.

The CMA Music teachers of excellence dinner was an incredible honor. The whole Nashville trip was one of my favorite parts of the entire year. I was inspired by the recognition and couldn’t wait to utilize the grant to improve my program. I really felt special the whole time I was in Nashville -- it was a great recognition of what music teachers are doing in their classrooms to inspire kids.

As a result of the publicity I received for the award, I was invited to facilitate a recording workshop at the ILMEA Music Educator’s Conference. I had the opportunity to work with students all over Illinois and teach them a variety of recording and mixing techniques. We started with a vocal track and built around it in a collaborative, non-traditional way. I wanted to show them that a recording session can be set up in any space with minimal equipment (and I used the microphones that I purchased with the grant from last year!). It was a lot of fun and I think the students got a lot out of it. I’ve been asked to come back again for the 2019 workshop.

I’ve also been asked to do a presentation on the York Album Project at ILMEA’s MusEd conference. There is a lot of interest in how to create a program like York’s music production program at other schools and I’m always excited to share what I do with other teachers. The most important thing a school can do to get a program like this implemented is start opening its doors to the non-traditional musician. The program and technology with improve over time, but students need to have an opportunity to enroll in some type of music production course. Many schools are moving towards every student having a laptop or tablet -- this is a perfect opportunity to take a chance on a music technology class.

The company I run, Practicing Musician, is partnered with Give A Note to help fund K-12 music programs. Beth and Juliana have been wonderful to work with throughout the whole process, and I look forward to working with them well into the future!

The Give A Note Foundation has made a significant difference in our music education programs at the local school level. Not only that, but they have maintained a continued support for our programs through their continual connection with me as an educator. There have been many occasions when the organization members have given much needed encouragement. This is above and beyond the foundation's financial support for our programs. The organization is professional yet approachable. They stay true to their mission of providing for the continuation of music education.

This nonprofit supports Music Education, nationwide. I am thrilled to work with them and create extraordinary experiences for learners.

I have always envied those with musical talent as I have never really had those skills myself. I have always loved music but chose to focus my career on the skill sets that I did possess. When looking to give back to others I was happy to learn that Give A Note had a focus on providing opportunities for students in areas where many kids may not get an opportunity because there are insufficient funds and support. I have been very impressed with how creative and hard working this organization is at looking for new opportunities to create relationships with influential people in the music industry or just those that share a passion for music and want to help insure that all kids have the same opportunity to experience the benefits of a music education regardless of where they live.

The support of this foundation has provided resources and funding that aided me in the instructional process. They are consistent in their mission to directly Impactt student engagement with tangible resources to improve student access to innovative music instruction. As a music instructor organizations that lighten the burden by providing an additional funding source are greatly appreciated.

All music educators in this country are very fortunate to have the Give a Note Foundation serving as an umbrella organization that supports music and music education; whether it is through providing funding for innovative music programs, sharing best practices, curriculum resources as well as organizing music educators into a vibrant professional learning community.

As one of the recipients of the Give a Note Foundation 2020 awards, my school, all of my students, and I personally benefited enormously from all the help and support I received from this wonderful organization.

The Grant provided funding for necessary hardware and software resources to implement my program. The Give a Note Foundation staff facilitated collaboration with fellow educators for mentoring and support. When COVID 19 pandemic forced the closure of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, their help with ideas and resources to facilitate distances learning music instruction has been indispensable.

I believe that Give a Note Foundation provides an invaluable service for the music educator’s community and should be commanded for a remarkable job they have been doing since its inception.
Rosa Rabinovich, Music Director at Norman S. Edelcup Sunny Isles Beach K-8, Miami, Florida

My students and I received a Give-A-Note Grant in 2015 and were treated to a visit from guest artist, RaeLynn. The biggest benefit for our music program was the attention. We were in the national spotlight! The local newspaper and radio station had coverage for the event and we were highlighted in a video post that included schools from around the country. We performed for an audience of over 1,000 people and shared the stage with a national celebrity. Our school district is high-poverty. We hear so many negatives about being an urban district and having 'inner-city' problems. The Give-A-Note Foundation challenged all of those notions. It gave my students the chance to be seen in a positive light. We could show everyone the power of music. Yes, the money was nice and it helped to sustain our program during the next school year, but it was the confidence boost that really excited our students, parents, and administrators!

Give a Note is an amazing organization that helps thousands of students recieve the gift of music. In a day and age where arts often get cut from schools Give a Note Foundation helps provide instruments for students to excel and experience all that music has to offer them. Thank you for all you do for music students k-12 across the United States!

I got this grant out of the blue. I have been giving to the Give A Note Foundation as a part of my dues payment for the NAfME. Anyway, I didn't apply for the grant I was just selected because of the demographics of our student population. My budget for our music department is not very high, about $500 per year so I do a lot of my own repairs and maintain my instruments as well as I can but my favorite instrument is drums and although I have a couple drum sets I really love a marching drum line. This grant allowed me to purchase some economical marching drums and start a marching band program in the school. The students were reluctant at first but after our first little parade they can not wait to do it again.

I thought this would be a long shot for our tiny class D2 school in the North Central Division, but I'm very happy that we had the opportunity to be part of the 2016 Music in Our Schools - Give a Note Tour!! As a first year teacher, this was probably really ambitious, but I did it for the students and the community! We are very grateful that Megan Nicole and Nate from Radio Disney could take time out of their busy schedules and come see what a small town school is like. The Give a Note Foundation and Radio Disney have brought the students hope and excitement with the ARDY Award as well as the generous donation of $2,500 to our music program at Stapleton Public Schools. We are looking to upgrade some instruments in our music room! I cannot thank all of the wonderful people that made this experience possible! Our only suggestion would be to play with the timing of the event. The students wished that there was time for more than three songs by the visiting artist instead of the presentation with a few songs mixed into it. I think they said they would have liked to have the presentation first followed by a concert and meet and greet. Cheers, Give a Note Foundation! You are doing a great thing for schools around the country! We look forward to submitting another video for next year!

The Give a Note Foundation does some wonderful things for music education and music programs through-out the country! As a 2016 Southern Division winner of a $2500 grant, an ARDY award from Radio Disney, and a free Radio Disney concert by Carson Lueders and Candice on Air, Shady Hill Elementary is so very grateful for all that the Give a Note Foundation has done for us! Our sincerest thanks and deepest gratitude go out to the Give a Note Foundation and Radio Disney, not only for the grant, award, and concert, but also for the continued effort to raise awareness about the importance of music education for all our students in this country!

My elementary choir students and I participated in the Music In Our Schools Month National Bus Tour in 2015. The staff of Give A Note was EXCELLENT. I can't say enough about how professional they were and how smoothly they ran the event. All possible details were accounted for and they made my job (the teacher) so much easier by allowing me to focus on my students. They even took the time to meet with me in a conference call to patiently plan all the details, something that I'm sure was unnecessary for their team but certainly assuaged the fears of my administrators regarding the planning associated with the event on our end. I received grant money for my classroom as part of my participation in the tour. I was extremely pleased by every step of dealing with the staff of Give-A-Note.

This is Thomas J. Fleming, music director at Churchill County High School in Fallon, NV. We were awarded $10,000 in 2012. (I might be a year off.) One of the best things about the experience was that it was worth all the effort even if we hadn't been one of the winners. The students really came together. We had a blast arranging and filming. It was at the beginning of the school year, thus a good time to come together and gel as group. The money went a long way; instruments, uniforms, software, all that are still in use today. Thank you!

This has been a great year musically here at UPCA! The students have all enjoyed all the ‘goodies’ that have arrived into the music room – we have been able to use all these great teaching tools – books, posters, games – it is so nice to have these extra additions to the curriculum!!

The most exciting part for me was to be able to provide students in grades 3 and 4 a recorder in the Spring semester this year! Most students were able to learn the proper technique, and play different rhythms and the notes B-A-G! Quite an accomplishment in a short period of time!

Once again, I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to be awarded this grant and share all these wonderful tools with my students here! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!