Music students at JHS 202 show off their new instruments, which the Ozone Park school landed thanks to a $30,000 grant from the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. Anna Gustafson/The Forum Newsgroup
For the students at JHS 202 in Ozone Park, a $30,000 music grant that the school just landed was about more than receiving a sea of shiny new instruments: It was emblematic of the school’s revived and growing music program that is becoming a crown jewel at an institution that has gone against a citywide tide of years of art and music cutbacks and focused on boosting its creative endeavors.
“There’s a lot more available to us – that gives us so much more potential,” Savrana Gayadin, an eighth grade student at JHS 202, said of her school’s growing music program.
Gayadin was one of a classroom of students last week to catch a first glimpse at the 29 new musical instruments the school received thanks to a $30,000 grant from the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a national nonprofit that donates instruments to schools across the country.
Justin Wolf, a JHS 202 teacher who has worked to revive the school’s music program since arriving at the institution three years ago, applied for the grant approximately two years ago. Following a rigorous review process by the nonprofit, Wolf and JHS 202 Principal William Fitzgerald were notified at the end of November that the school would receive a bevy of new instruments – everything from flutes and trumpets to saxophones and clarinets – that were worth about $30,000.
“I almost fell to the floor; I was so excited,” said Wolf, a music teacher who has garnered high praise from his middle school students for bringing new energy into a program that helps give an artistic outlet to students who may not always find their passion amongst textbooks.
“This grant allows each student to have access to their own instruments, which is great,” Wolf continued.
Gayadin and two of her fellow eighth grade peers, Afsana Ahmed and Anthony Marino, agreed, saying the new influx of instruments – which replaces others that have been around the school since the 1960s – is most welcome.
“It’s exciting because we can play a lot clearer; you can hear a difference,” Marino said of the new instruments, which also include a xylophone, euphonium, bass clarinet, and four snare drum kits.
The $30,000 grant follows another $10,000 the school and the Parent Teacher Association spent on the music program two years ago as part of its effort to offer music to pupils – a stark contrast to the cuts in the arts that schools have sustained throughout the five boroughs in recent years. Additionally, Wolf applied for, and received, a grant from Little Kids Rock – a nonprofit that works to bring modern rock into schools by donating instruments – that landed the school 31 guitars last year.
Such a commitment to the arts has not only drawn students to the music program, but it helped the institution land the grant from the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation.
“When they saw how serious we are about our music program here, they said they wanted to invest in us,” said Fitzgerald, who noted that, in addition to music, the school has worked on building an entire roster of creative programs, including drama and visual arts.
“Not all students are talented in academics – this gives students a chance to shine in other areas,” Fitzgerald said.
JHS 202 students said they were thrilled to test out the new instruments.
By Anna Gustafson
