A representative from Save the Music Foundation visited with Meridian Public School District students, staff and community partners Monday to get a first-hand look at the impact foundation grants are having on music education throughout the district.

During a visit to Carver Elementary School, Jaclyn Rudderow, senior director of school programs for Save the Music Foundation, said it was exciting to see students singing along and using instruments provided by the foundation through one of its grant programs.

“It started with a conversation with (Superintendent) Dr. (Amy) Carter three years ago, and now to see how far the district has come and for students to be sitting up straight in their chair and playing the drum or the ukulele, is really just the best,” Rudderow said.

Save the Music Foundation is one of the leading music foundations in the nation, working to bring access to music education to students in public schools. The nonprofit organization partners with school districts to donate grants in the form of new musical instruments, technology, equipment and resources for music teachers and school leaders to build music programs.

During the 2022-2023 school year, Save the Music partnered with Meridian schools to award Intro to Music Grants benefiting four elementary schools: Parkview, Carver, West Hills and Crestwood.

The grants provide everything a music teacher needs to teach general music instruction to students, including high-quality instruments such as a digital piano, hand-held percussion, ukuleles, drums, xylophones, recorders, among other instruments. The foundation also provides method books, instructional materials and professional development for teachers.

Everything, Rudderow said, “to ensure that every child had access to instruments to actively make music in class every week.”

The district, in turn, matched the investment by ensuring each of the schools had a certified, full-time music teacher, she said.

“So that was our partnership. We helped to provide the capital investment. The district invested in the music teachers and the space and the schedule so every child had equity across the district in elementary music,” she said.

Last fall, Save the Music awarded Magnolia Middle School and Northwest Middle School Core Grants to grow both schools’ band programs.

“Really to help boost their inventory of musical instruments, music stands, method books so that they could build out the middle school band programs,” Rudderow said of the Core Grants’ purpose. “More students now have access to high-quality musical instruments, and really anyone that wants to be a part of the band now can.”

The grants funded music stands, method books, program services and lots of new musical instruments, including flutes, clarinets, saxophones, trumpets, trombones, a bell kit, a snare drum, a bass drum and a cymbal kit.

Antonio Altman, MPSD’s arts coordinator, said Monday’s visit was chance for Rudderow to see the positive impact Save the Music grants are having on Meridian students.

Besides seeing first hand the excitement music education brings to students, he said, the district teamed up with the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience to host a community arts team luncheon, where Rudderow was the guest speaker. He said she was able to meet representatives from various community partners, including the Meridian Symphony, the Mississippi Arts Commission and Any Given Child, and talk with these representatives about how the district can establish more connections in the community that will provide more opportunities for students.

“We are very appreciative of the Save the Music Foundation, and we want to continue our partnership with them,” Altman said.