Turn on the music! Fire-ravaged Maine school needs instruments
Dike-Newall music teacher Celina Reed says her classes need a lot, and she’s grateful for the support she’s already received.
After a devastating fire in June, pupils at Dike-Newell Primary School in Bath are attending classes at the free vocational center on High Street this autumn. Students return to class on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day. Many things were lost in the fire, including almost everything in the kindergarten through second grade music room. Music teacher Celina Reed tells WMTW that everything in the second-floor music room is considered a total loss, except for her ukulele, which was rescued by firefighters the next day. Reed just started teaching at Dike-Newall last school year. She says the music teacher before her spent more than 30 years saving her budget to buy and collect a variety of instruments, drums, percussion and equipment for students. She says it’s not yet clear how much or if insurance will cover the loss of supplies and musical instruments, but she doesn’t expect everything to be replaced. For example, she says they lost a rosewood Orff bass xylophone that cost over $1,000. The district has helped, and Reed says her classroom has egg shakers, a boomwhacker and a drum for every student (a class band has about 20 instruments). She said she bought and cut pool noodles for the students to use as scraping instruments. Reed also says another teacher donated her childhood Beanie Babies to replace Reed’s that were lost in the fire. She says kindergartners refer to Beanie Babies as beat up friends. And she says her family and friends have helped fund the room’s decoration to make the new space inviting. Right now, Reed says the school needs kid-friendly instruments like tambourines, triangles, maracas, bells, rhythm sticks, pianos with rotating keyboards. can be placed on the floor, glockenspiel, mallet and sound effect instruments (cowbells, vibratos, etc.) She also needs materials she can use to bring the music to life for the children, such as finger puppets , crayons, play dough. , and pipe cleaners. She says that individually, these items are quite affordable, but together the cost is overwhelming. A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for the music room, and Reed says it’s the most convenient way for the community to help, as it will allow her to use the money to buy sets of instruments immediately and keep traces of what they have and what they still need. She says she’s reluctant to accept donated band and orchestra instruments now because they’re tougher instruments for these levels and she doesn’t have the space to store them.
After a devastating fire in June, pupils at Dike-Newell Primary School in Bath are attending classes at the free vocational center on High Street this autumn. Students return to class on Tuesday, the day after Labor Day.
Many things were lost in the fire, including almost everything in the kindergarten through second grade music room.
Music teacher Celina Reed tells WMTW that everything in the second-floor music room is considered a total loss, except for her ukulele, which was rescued by firefighters the next day.
Reed just started teaching at Dike-Newall last school year. She says the music teacher before her spent more than 30 years saving her budget to buy and collect a variety of instruments, drums, percussion and equipment for students.
She says it’s not yet clear how much or if insurance will cover the loss of supplies and musical instruments, but she doesn’t expect everything to be replaced. For example, she says they lost a wooden Orff bass xylophone that cost over $1,000.
The district has helped, and Reed says her classroom has egg shakers, a boomwhacker and a drum for every student (a class band has about 20 instruments). She said she bought and cut up pool noodles for the students to use as scraping instruments.
Reed also says another teacher donated Beanie Babies from her childhood to replace Reed’s that were lost in the fire. She says kindergartners refer to Beanie Babies as beat up friends. And she says her family and friends have helped fund the room’s decoration to make the new space inviting.
Right now, Reed says, the school needs kid-friendly instruments like tambourines, triangles, maracas, chimes, rhythm sticks, pianos that can be placed on the floor, glockenspiels, mallets and sound effects instruments (bells cow, vibra-slap, etc.) She also needs materials she can use to bring the music to life for the children, such as finger puppets, crayons, play dough and pipe cleaners. She says that individually, these items are quite affordable, but together the cost is overwhelming.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for the music room, and Reed says it’s the most convenient way for the community to help, as it will allow her to use the money to buy sets of instruments immediately and keep traces of what they have and what they still need.
She says she’s reluctant to accept donated band and orchestra instruments at the moment because they’re tougher instruments for these levels and she doesn’t have the space to store them.