"Rising" to Success!

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 60

We are astounded by the generosity of Champions for Learning and the Lucie Jenny MacCarthy Music Fund of the Collier Community. The impact these new Choral Risers has made for our students cannot be understated. Our old risers were purchased when the school opened in 1998 and were last inspected for safety in 2001. Many sections were in disrepair and quite frankly created a dangerous situation for students to perform. With our new Choral Risers being more portable, our choir is now able to perform front and center in full-stage lighting, rather than the stationary risers that stayed on the floor in the "pit." Because of this, I have noticed a huge leap in my students' confidence and ownership of their performances. These new risers elevated our performances to a new level - my students sang with a new-found sense of pride that I haven't seen since before the COVID shutdown! We were honored to have Samantha Lapolla represent Champions for Learning at our Winter Showcase and accept a small token of our gratitude and appreciative applause from the audience.

We look forward to using these risers for many years to come, to help hundreds of students find their voice, gain a sense of belonging and learn how to positively contribute to something greater than themselves. Thank you to all who were involved in these classroom grants - we teachers could not continue without your generous support!