SHEPHERDSTOWN - First lady Joanne Jaeger Tomblin was received Tuesday by melodies from Shepherdstown Middle School's jazz band, which harmonized on the new instruments the school recently received from partnership of the VH1 Save the Music Foundation and the West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH).
"This band is absolutely fabulous," Tomblin told the ensemble. "I give you kudos today, you sound wonderful."
Tomblin visited SMS in celebration of the school's $30,000 worth of new Yamaha musical instruments that will ensure the continuation of a long-term instrumental music program.
"I think incorporating music arts programs in schools is critical," Tomblin said. "I am very interested in music, and I hope that this encourages more students to want to be involved in music in some way."
Tomblin, whose love for music stems from piano playing as well as musical theater and church choir involvement, said she believes music is a priority in education because of its numerous benefits. Students involved with music, she said, are better test-takers and critical thinkers.
Band teacher Chad Conant, who directed the SMS jazz band's Tuesday performance, said the school recently received approximately 40 instruments. Box after box of brand-new instruments, including flutes, clarinets, symbols and saxophones, were unveiled by elated students, she said.
"I think that VH1 is enriching the lives of our students with these instruments and through these instruments with the gift of music," Conant said. "It just inspires them to even be better and allows us to involve students who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford an instrument."
According to a statement from the WVDCH, VH1's Save the Music Foundation, a national nonprofit, has provided more than $45 million in new musical instruments to 1,700 public schools in more than 100 cities around the country.
The West Virginia effort that partners WVDCH, an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and Arts, with VH1 is the first of its kind.
The statewide program, which will see its third anniversary this year, aims to provide new instruments to every West Virginia elementary and middle school that has a qualified music teacher and is coordinated by the WVDCH.
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