On October 30th, Santa Ana Unified School district called a 'secret' meeting to announce the impending budgetary problems with their music program. They invited a handful of prominent and respected Orange County individuals (and me, who is definitely not that...). We learned first hand the true numbers and burdens the district
faces. They garnished the sad truth with heartfelt performances from talented Santa Ana young musicians. It was devastating to hear, that if Santa Ana doesn't find additional funding, the already tattered music program will VANISH. By vanish, I mean, if something isn't done MUSIC is OVER in the district of Santa Ana by 2010.Houston.. We have a problem.
After consuming some delicious food, it was time to brainstorm. How can we fix this situation? What happens when all the resources are exhausted?
The administration admitted they have limited experience with fund raising. Most of the members of the community (parents included) are poverty stricken, and can't offer additional financial assistance.
As you can see here, Herman Mendez, the Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Schools in Santa Ana led our 'idea' group. Some of the ideas we came up with included:
Benefit Concerts
Corporate Sponsorship
VH1's Save the Music
Channel 1 Advertising
Next, we combined ideas. We developed a rough plan of action... It was time to volunteer. The room was silent except for FOUR people (myself included, a punk 21 year old) who committed themselves to problem at hand. Only four... The heat is on.
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