IBEW 26 Gives Students Gift of Music
Monday, December 23, 2013
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Too often
when school boards face budget shortfalls,
music education is
the first to go. But for
Washington, D.C. students, music in the
classroom is alive and well thanks to a
donation from Local 26 and CBS
EcoMedia. The $30,000 grant to the
non-profit organization Little Kids Rock will
train 20 new teachers in music education. The
money also goes to paying for upwards of 500
new instruments, including guitars, bass
guitars, drums and keyboards. “Little Kids
Rock is so grateful that IBEW Local 26 has
chosen to support our kids’ right to rock!”
said David Wish, executive director of Little
Kids Rock. Recently, Local 26 and EcoMedia
visited Brightwood Education Campus in
Northwest D.C. to deliver some of the
instruments and enjoy a student concert.
“Today it seems like kids are often isolated
from each other,” said Local 26 Business
Manager Chuck Graham. “Music brings them
together and helps teach them the importance of
team work.” Graham says Local 26 does most of
electrical construction and maintenance work on
D.C. public schools and saw this as an
opportunity to build upon that relationship.
“It says we care about the community we
serve,” he said. Click here
to watch the students perform Rihanna’s
“Diamonds.”