$14,800 were raised at the 29th School Band Telethon on Mar. 2 to support band trips for both the music programs of Skeena Middle School and Caledonia Secondary, which is the most they have ever raised.
The joint fundraiser between the two schools' music programs is an annual telephone event conducted by the Terrace Thornhill Parents for Music Society. Students in their various ensemble groups perform for those in attendance and on livestream.
"This year was special," said Amber Zanon, a member of the Terrace Thornhill Parents for Music Society. "Dare to Dream, a society that promotes public music education, runs an annual band retreat where pros are brought to mentor, conduct and work with [students] as they begin their journey with an instrument."
"Those clinicians [from Dare to Dream] stayed an extra day to hang out at the telethon and perform with the kids. That was really, really cool for the kids. It sounds like the [clinicians] want to do that again next year," shared Zanon.
"The business community also really came out this year as we had lots of large donations from businesses," she said. "There were also significant donations from individual members of the community."
With the funds raised, kids from the music programs will go to Canadian musical festivals in May to perform — Skeena Middle School will go to the Vancouver Heritage Festival and Caledonia Secondary will go to Music Fest Canada in Toronto.
"For a lot of kids, they would never be able to go on a trip like this, to be around the calibre of musicians at these festivals," said Zanon.
"When I was in band in school, we never had the opportunity to even compete at a festival like this," said Jacquelynne Amendt, a music teacher at Caledonia Secondary. "It's a really big deal to perform at [Music Fest Canada], it's an invitation-only festival, meaning if you do well at our local festival here, [the Pacific Northwest Music Festival], you qualify."
For Amendt, the music tours she was able to go on as a student were a big reason why she became a music teacher.
"Even though this trip is for music, the experiences and memories these students will make will last a lifetime," she said.
Robert Clark, a music teacher at Skeena Middle, shared that these trips are a big motivation behind most students participating in band.
"It gives them the avenue to meet new people, experience new musical situations, like performing in different communities," he said.
Clark said that the middle school is going to be performing along the way to Vancouver, including in Quesnel for the veterans at the Legion.
"There are amazing life skills kids learn when they travel in these groups as well," said Amendt. "They're given a lot of trust and freedom to explore the city in downtime and that gives them a sense of independence and confidence (in a controlled and safe environment) to one day face the real world when they leave high school."
Despite the telethon's success, additional fundraising is needed.
The middle school's trip costs $93,000, or approximately $1,400 per student. Clark shared that around $57,000 has been raised so far.
The secondary school's trip costs $110,000 and approximately $45,000 is still needed, according to Amendt.
"Kids are doing bottle drives, raffles and selling chocolates," said Zanon.
Amendt shared that one of her students is doing extra fundraising so that anyone who cannot make the trip can go.
To donate, people can write a cheque to either schools with the subject being the school's music program or band trip.
