21st Century Fox Presents Grants for School Music Programs Across the U.S.
21st Century Fox Social Impact
To commemorate the end of FOX's groundbreaking musical television series Glee, which sparked renewed interest and participation in school music programs during its six-season run, 21st Century Fox and the Give a Note Foundation in March announced the establishment of the 21st Century Fox Give a Note Grants to support 16 under-funded music education programs at schools across the United States. The two organizations worked closely to identify the recipient schools and have begun distributing the funds through school ceremonies this fall.
The initiative will support music programs at schools in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Montana, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Houston, and Seattle. The grants give a large boost to music programs that have struggled for years to find adequate funding, often doubling budgets or saving programs on the verge of getting cut.
"A lot of kids don't have that exposure to any kind of activity or fun or brightness in their life, and music gives that to them, and I love doing it," said Stephanie Manuel, a teacher at University Park Create Arts School in North Carolina, a Title 1 school that received a grant providing the entire music budget for the year. "We're going to use [the money] to start a recorder program, because music is not funded at the elementary level. I figure this will be a great way to get them started."
21st Century Fox and the Give a Note Foundation have organized grant presentation ceremonies at each of the schools, celebrating the teachers and staff that make the music programs possible and giving the students the chance to showcase their talents. "Music is definitely bringing us together, and it provides a lot of opportunities for us," said Mariko Shaw, and 11th grader at Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta.
The grant program is the latest chapter in a long-standing relationship between 21st Century Fox and the Give a Note Foundation. The company first partnered with the organization on the 2011 Glee Give a Note campaign, and since then, the two organizations have distributed more than $1 million in grants to nearly 90 arts programs across the country.
"Glee has inspired us all to fight for what we believe in and has been truly influential in driving support for music and the arts in schools," said Jane Mell Balek, Chief Operating Officer, Give a Note Foundation. "We are proud to work with 21st Century Fox to honor the show's legacy with a new grant program that will allow us to reach even more schools across the country."
