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WALKER PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 1820 Georgia Highway 11 Monroe, GA 30656 (770) 267-8311 December 28, 1997 Dear Puffin Foundation: I am writing in support of Mrs. Pam Blanchard's request for financial assistance to make the Sunny-Side Up Band available to school-age children, We are excited that Mrs. Blanchard's group will be performing at our school in early 1998. The performance will deliver many aspects of our curriculum for early elementary students including sequencing, predicting, listening and following directions. Our students will also learn about different kinds of musical instruments and concepts in music, They will actually help write songs as they are performed. Students will be fully engaged in an enjoyable learning experience which emphasizes a positive world view. We expect also that the performance will influence the parenting and teaching practices of adults who attend. Unfortunately, the benefits described above will be available to only about one-third of our students, parents and teachers; funding constraints exclude the other two-thirds, After thorough inquiry, I have been unable to locate a local or state-level source of funding to provide for performances in the school. We are able to afford the one performance described by applying funds from a Special Instructional Assistance grant which target, a fraction of our population. As a result, we will sacrifice other needs in the areas of staff development and parent involvement. School officials unfamiliar with a performance group's work are reluctant to commit scarce funds to bring that group into the school. I hope that through the support of the Puffin Foundation, the Sunny-Side Up Band will have the opportunity to demonstrate for other school officials the benefits of performances as I have witnessed them. With a cadre of supporters within the states educational community, the group is likely to gain access to many more schools. The benefits from an investment by the Puffin Foundation will extend well beyond the students who attend specific performances underwritten by the grant. Yours truly, Sam W. Preston, Assistant Principal Walker Park Elementary School
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