From middle school-age kids to high schoolers, a number of Mountain View students are benefitting from a $100,000 donation of musical instruments from Mountain View De Anza Lodge No. 194, local school officials say.
The lodge donated instruments to Mountain View High School, the Mountain View Whisman School District, and specifically, Graham Middle School’s band program on Oct. 3.
Approximately $50,000 in instruments were donated to Mountain View High, while the remaining money was spent across the Mountain View Whisman School District.
Ricky Alegria, co-director of Mountain View High School’s instrumental music program, told the Mountain View Voice that the high school received a cello, vibraphone, two violas, percussion instruments and a new speaker system.
The string instruments will be used in the orchestra classes and the percussion instruments will be used during band classes. The speaker system will be primarily used with the Spartan Marching Band, Alegria said.
Graham’s band program received five trumpets, five clarinets and an acoustic bass. The school’s auditorium also received a new sound board, according to Mountain View Whisman spokesperson Shelly Hausman.
She also told the Voice that the Masonic Lodge has donated to Graham’s instrumental program in the past, including the installation and purchase of stage curtains.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Masonic Lodge for its continued generosity and longstanding support of our schools,” Hausman said in an email. “Their support helps us to provide high-quality educational experiences for our students. We deeply appreciate their commitment to our schools and community.”
Veeresh Kinagi, a member of the Masonic Lodge, said the donation was made from the lodge’s educational endowment. By donating instruments instead of money, Kinagi said the organization knows the donation will directly benefit students.
“Our goal is to make sure that the decision of playing an instrument is not based [on] instrument availability,” Kinagi said in an email to the Voice. “Music programs are important to a well-rounded education because it teaches creativity and how to work in groups.”
Because music are elective classes, many students are very invested in learning an instrument.
“We saw how much it meant to the students when they reacted to all of the boxes being delivered to the music room,” he said.
