New Band Program Needs Instruments for Alcona Community School Students

Alcona Community Schools band program is about to be revived after a seven-year break. The new program will be welcoming new students who are interested in music thanks to retired band teacher, Ray Reynolds.

But with restarting the band program, there are challenges. The students will need instruments for the class, and that’s where Reynolds needs help.

“A lot of the students are going to need instruments to use if they’re going to participate. We felt one of the things we could do was a community search of people who would like to donate instruments. They don’t have to be in great shape, but if they are that’s wonderful, it they’re old fine too, but the idea is to get enough instruments in and have them gone through to see what we can do to make them playable, and make it so that when school begins next year that we can supply students with instruments,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said band is important and should stay alive in schools because it helps students perform better in school overall.

“The research shows that students that participate in a performance arts do better in school overall. They test better; math scores are higher, reading scores are higher, and what happens is when you’re playing an instrument, or if you’re singing, or you’re in theatre, anything that has to do with performance class, your brain operates differently, and it develops faster. Your thinking skills also last longer and all of those apply to the regular classrooms,” he added.

If you would like to help with donating an instrument, you can contact Reynolds by email at Reynoldsr@alconaschools.net. Or by calling 989–464–2546.