Mason Community Arts Academy

Category: Community Outreach

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Instruments in the Attic

IiA Provides 20 Instruments to Students in Uganda

Mason Community Arts Academy administrative staff member, Dr. MeHaley Babich, provided 20 instruments from Instruments in the Attic to students in Uganda this past summer. These instruments include one ukulele, two hand drums, three tambourines, one tone chime, two pairs of jingle bells, three maracas, one pair of egg shakers, one pair of castanets, one triangle, one recorder, and four flutes.

Outside of the Academy, MeHaley teaches general music at Arlington Traditional School in Arlington, Virginia. She spent three weeks in Uganda teaching workshops on basic music theory and appreciation, and teaching students how to play their new instruments.

This trip was part of a long-standing partnership between Arlington Traditional School and REACH for Uganda. Staff from Arlington Traditional School travel to Uganda several times a year to teach classes and provide supplies and instruments to students at multiple schools. We hope to provide more instruments as a part of this initiative in the future!

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Instruments in the Attic

IiA Provides 9 Brass Instruments to New Generation Marching Band

Instruments in the Attic (IiA), the Academy’s instrument donation program, recently provided nine brass instruments (one mellophone, six trumpets, two trombones, and a collection of mutes and other accessories), to New Generation Marching Band. New Generation Marching Band is a nonprofit youth marching band based in Portsmouth, Virginia that serves the larger Hampton Roads area.

About the organization: “Founded in 1992 by Lionel Hines Sr., New Generation Marching Band is a nonprofit youth development organization based in Portsmouth, Virginia, dedicated to transforming lives through music, mentorship, and opportunity. For more than three decades, we have empowered young people by providing a safe, structured environment where they can develop leadership skills, build confidence, and discover their full potential through the performing arts. Serving more than 100 youth and their families, New Generation is more than a marching band—we are a community committed to building confident young leaders.”

For more information on how to support IiA, donate an instrument, or request a donation, visit our IiA webpage.

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Instruments in the Attic

IiA Provides 62 Instruments to Ironbridge Christian Academy

Instruments in the Attic (IiA), the Academy’s instrument donation program, recently donated 21 acoustic guitars, 15 electric keyboards, 2 djembes, 1 xylophone, and 23 foldable music stands to Ironbridge Christian Academy in Chesterfield, Virginia.

Founded in 2000, Ironbridge Christian Academy serves students Pre-K through 4th grade and will be expanding to include 5th and 6th grade. The Director of Music and Performing Arts, Sofia Sanderson, contact IiA with a request to support their budding music program.

Ironbridge Christian Academy is “committed to enriching our students through music, performing arts, STEM, visual arts, and other opportunities that foster creativity and academic growth.”

For more information on how to support IiA, donate an instrument, or request a donation, visit our IiA webpage.

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Instruments in the Attic

IiA Provides 11 Instruments to Shenandoah Valley Academy

Andrés Mendoza, SVA band director (left) with Lucas Kremer, coordinator of music programs and outreach (right)

Shenandoah Valley Academy (SVA) is a Seventh-Day Adventist college preparatory school located in New Market, Virginia. SVA has a comprehensive music program that includes six large ensembles and two academic courses. Private lesson study is also highly encouraged and is offered through their program.

Academy staff member, Allison Erdelyi, an alum of SVA (class of 2021), connected Lucas Kremer, coordinator of music programs and outreach, with Laura Hoffman, a music teacher at the elementary school. Hoffman expressed a need for several instruments for their high school band program, including a few less commonly requested instruments, through the Academy’s Instruments in the Attic donation program. Kremer then coordinated the pickup with SVA’s band director, Andrés Mendoza. Instruments in the Attic provided SVA with 11 instruments: two piccolos, two flutes, two bass clarinets, two alto saxophones, one baritone saxophone, and two trombones.

We hope that these instruments will help to balance out their band program’s instrumentation for years to come!

Written by Lucas Kremer
Edited by Regina Schneider

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Instruments in the Attic

Eagle Scout Instruments in the Attic Project

At the Academy building, a normally quiet Saturday in March was filled with the sounds of drills, stairs creaking with Boy Scouts and parents moving instruments up and down, and voices echoing with instructions, chatter, and laughter. Scouts from Troop 1865 were working on a project led by Robinson High School sophomore, Brendan Williamson.

Initial Outreach

Brendan initially reached out to our previous Instruments in the Attic Coordinator, Dr. Samantha Clarke, to inquire about the possibility of supporting IiA through his Eagle Scout project. Even though this was after she had left the Academy, Samantha was still periodically checking her George Mason University email at the time. She then passed the message along to Executive Director Mary Lechter and Coordinator of Music Programs and Outreach, Lucas Kremer. Lucas reached out to Brendan to set up a meeting to visit the Academy facilities and discuss ideas for the project.

Logging and tagging instruments
Cleaning instruments
Parents working on the storage shelves

From the initial meeting, Mary and Lucas were immediately impressed by Brendan’s ideas for the project, as well as his openness to their thoughts on what would be most beneficial to IiA. Throughout the planning and execution phases of the project, he showed incredible initiative, leadership, and attention to detail beyond his years.

Brendan’s Experience

Brendan writes about his experience around the project:

“Many old instruments sitting unused in attics, basements, or closets go overlooked. But each one has the potential to inspire a new musician who otherwise might not have access to musical education. Through my Eagle Scout project with Instruments in the Attic, I helped them collect, clean and refurbish these instruments so they could find homes with aspiring musicians.

I chose Instruments in the Attic for my eagle scout project because I am a violist at Robinson High School who is passionate about music and musical education. I wanted to help others acquire the opportunity to have a quality education like mine. I had heard about IiA from an adult in my troop, and I immediately knew that I wanted to do my project with them.

For my project, I reached out to local music stores, students at my school, and members of my scout troop for donations. My efforts were successful. I was able to collect 30 instruments for the organization. The next phase of my project included constructing new shelves to improve instrument storage capacity, and designing an online inventory system to make it easier for IiA to process requests for instruments, and see what repairs each instrument needs before it is ready to be sent out.

Managing the multiple aspects of the project, including instrument cleaning, logging items into the inventory system, and shelf construction, simultaneously was difficult, but rewarding. Thankfully, I had lots of support from my scout troop and friends, so we were able to successfully execute the project. I would definitely recommend a similar project to anyone who is interested in helping out the musical community. Having the opportunity to make a positive impact, especially in an area that you are passionate about, is an incredible experience, and I am so lucky to have been able to work with the wonderful people at Instruments in the Attic and the Mason Arts Community Academy.”

Brendan (right) with IiA founder and Academy Board Member J.P. Phaup (left)

New IiA Inventory System

Thanks to the efforts of Brendan and his team of 24 volunteers, IiA now has increased functionality in our storage room and a brand-new inventory system. The Academy and IiA are incredibly appreciative of everyone’s time and effort into this project!

Through our Instruments in the Attic program, we are able to assist in providing instruments to students and teachers around the Northern Virginia area, the country, and beyond! Read more stories on IiA and find out how you can support our mission.

Written by Lucas Kremer, Brendan Williamson, Regina Schneider
Edited by Regina Schneider