CHARLESTON, W.Va. — VH1’s Save the Music Foundation held a celebration of its statewide program Tuesday night at the State Culture Center.
West Virginia is the only state in which VH1 has committed to ensuring that every qualified public middle school in every West Virginia county receives a musical instrument package that is valued at $35,000.
“VH1 Save The Music’s Mission is for every K through 8 kid in America to have access to instrumental music education,” said program executive director Henry Donahue.
Donahue said the effort had expanded throughout all 55 counties in West Virginia, offering the schools funding for instruments in exchange for the commitment to teach music. He said that studies have proven that being in a band improves all aspects of education.
“Having instrumental music education helps all those other subjects,” Donahue explained. “Attendance is better; student engagement is better; math and science scores are better; parent engagement is better when kids are in a band. It translates to all those other scores and tests and things that people are focused on these days when making budget decisions.”
By the coming fall, over $2 million dollars of funding will have been granted in all 55 counties, Donahue said.
“Our next step is we’re going to work with the state and the folks here today to see if we can make sure that there’s instrumental music education in every middle school in West Virginia,” he said.
Tuesday night’s program featured a short program from the Shady Spring Middle School Band in Raleigh County, as well as remarks from First Lady Joanne Tomblin and 1st District Congressman Evan Jenkins.