Chino Valley Band-Aides

Throughout history musicians have been granted a place of respect in society. They are the keepers of the spirit, whether it’s the spirit of the home, the town, the royal court, or the military.

Today, musicians still keep the spirit. When you’re having a bad day, how many of you hole up in your room and tune out the world with music?

It’s no different in school. The band is the spirit, the heart beat of the school.

The students in the CVUSD bands all work hard at keeping that spirit going.

When Tom Wiegert took over the Chino Valley band program in 2009, there were only eight students in the high school band. This year there are over forty students, and hopefully that number will continue to grow.

Unfortunately, Chino Valley is a Title I school, meaning that over 80% of the students are on free or reduced meal plans. What this means for the band is that it is difficult for the band parents to be able to afford instrument rental, or sometimes even be able to help pay for their band t-shirts that are bought every school year for band trips.

That’s where the Band-Aides come in. We’re a small, dedicated group of parents who want to help the band succeed. We know that takes more than just time and effort and practice. We’re working to help Mr. Wiegert build a supply of good instruments that remain with the school for lower-income students to use while they are in the band; we help buy the band t-shirts; we help pay for students to be able to attend music camps; we supply water for the band at camp and parades. We work for the greater good of the band kids, because we know the band is for them first and foremost.

We do this through fundraising. We’ve held a quilt raffle; we’ve done a spare change bucket brigade at concerts; we’ve sold 50/50 raffles at home football games; we’ve held a car wash; we participate in the Territorial Days, and we’ll be selling candy, cookbooks, Cougar Pride wristbands. Anything to help these kids.

We might not have very many members, but what we lack in number, we make up in heart, and we are asking you to help us.

And by extension, help these kids keep the spirit alive.

“Music is the universal language of mankind.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow