Music students at three schools run by the Rainbow District School Board won't have any reason to play the blues this year.
Chelmsford Valley District Composite School, Lively District Secondary School and Manitoulin Secondary School will receive funding from the Joan Mantle Music Trust fund to purchase new instruments.
Leslie Mantle, principal of Lively District Secondary School (LDSS), said this is “a wonderful thing” for students.
“The cost of instruments is unbelievable,” she said. “The fact that the trust is going to kick in to help us (buy) new instruments and replenish some of the instruments that don't work is very important to the success of the (school's music) program, student's lives and success for them in the future.”
Leslie Mantle, Joan Mantle's daughter, said her mom would be proud how the program is benefiting students.
“She always helped me throughout my career, and here she is now here in the afterlife, helping me through my career.”
Cory Ross, a music teacher at LDSS, said there will be about 60 students in the school's intermediate concert band by next month.
“It's always nice to play on new instruments,” he said. “For one thing, they tend not to break down as quickly, and because of that they tend to be easier to play.
“Kids are definitely more excited to play on a newer looking instrument than a dinosaur of the 1960s.”
To date, $65,000 has been raised to benefit Rainbow board music students.
Lasalle Secondary School, Sudbury Secondary School, Lockerby Composite School, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School and MacLeod Public School have already benefited from the program.
Joan Mantle taught music at Lasalle Secondary School, and later became a principal at Lasalle, Lo-Ellen and Sudbury Secondary Schools.
She retired in 2003, and the Music Trust was set up in 2008, shortly before she passed away from cancer.
A number of Joan Mantle Music Trust concerts are scheduled for coming months.
For more information about the program or to make a donation, phone 705-674-3171 ext. 7232 or visit www.rainbowschools.ca/community/joanmantle.php.
