Whitefish Community Foundation awarded $45,000 in grants and special awards to Whitefish Education Foundation on April 29 to support their capital campaign to replace band and orchestra instruments at the middle and high schools. Pictured front row, left to right: Mason Wymer, Jacob Morrell, Cadence Ackerschott, Ashley Rickels, Adilyn Smith, and Monica Pastor; Back row, left to right: Linda Maetzold, Dane Montiel, Kasper Joos, Thomas Bruno, Mark McCrady, and Audrey Wampler. (Photo provided by WCF)
An old conn tuba used in Whitefish music programs. (Photo by Mark McCrady)
This past week, a french horn was laid to rest as its decaying lead pipe cracked and separated from the instrument. (Photo by Mark McCrady)
The Whitefish Education Foundation has a momentous goal to equip over 13,500 music students with adequate instruments over the next few decades.
The nonprofit’s first ever capital campaign, titled “Make Music Resonate,” hopes to raise $400,000 to replace antiquated instruments at Whitefish middle and high schools, many of which are 30 to 70 years old, and to establish an instrument replacement endowment.
“We believe every student should have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument,” said Mark McCrady, Whitefish Middle School band director. “Quality instruments are vital to a quality educational experience”
McCrady said many of the instruments come from an era of wooden skis and leather football helmets, and several alumni recall playing the same instruments being used today.
Doug Hetrick, who graduated in 1963, was surprised to see a baritone horn he played being used by a sixth grader, and Scott Larkin, who graduated in 1994, was surprised when his seventh grade son brought home the exact same 1958 Selmer Mark VI baritone sax that he played as a kid, McCrady said.
Many instruments are unreliable, with repairs being frequent, costly and sometimes ineffective. Problems include worn out woodwind key work, brass with red rot corrosion, and cracked percussion instruments. A few of the instruments recently retired had airholes and had pipes fall off.
EVERY YEAR, the education foundation fulfills education enhancement grants for Whitefish School District’s teachers and staff to support projects that enhance the student experience beyond what school funding provides. The grants are funded by the Whitefish Community Foundation.
“In recent years, requests for instruments have become more and more regular,” said Jesse Kuntz, executive director of the education foundation.
“We see it as an equity issue,” Kuntz said. “Most people rent in sixth grade, but as time goes on, most kids that stick with it will purchase an instrument. Those students who can’t afford it won’t get the same experience.”
There are about 500 replacements needed. From $75 cello bows to $700 middle school-level violins, to $7,400 bassoons and tubas, items range greatly in cost and purpose.
For the endowment, funds will be held for a minimum of 10 years, ideally longer, before use, and will be allocated with the approval of the school district administration based on program needs.
“As these instruments continue to decline, we can replace what needs to be replaced down the road,” Kuntz said.
McCrady said that music has been a part of countless students’ successes in life.
“We hope that legacy will carry on for future generations of student musicians,” he said.
MORE THAN 450 students are participate in middle and high school band and orchestra programs.
The orchestra program had 243 students perform in just one night at the winter concert last year, 74 of which were high school students.
There is no funding from the district to purchase musical instruments, nor has there been any in recent history. There is no allotment in the general fund budget, said Whitefish Superintendent Dave Means at a recent school board meeting
The campaign is currently still in the quiet phase, as lead donors help get things off the ground.
The Whitefish Community Foundation gave the education foundation a kickstart in the campaign by awarding it $45,000 last month.
The education foundation plans to have a more public-facing phase of fundraising that will take place later this year or early 2026.
Additional funds may be contributed outside of the campaign’s initial need and timeline.
To learn more contact Kuntz at wefdirector@whitefishschools.org.
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