Recently the Faculty of the Quincy Public Schools Music Department was on hand as the department received the Quincy Public Schools Foundation Dream Big Grant totaling $25,000.Dr. Todd Pettit, the district’s Director of Music & Fine Arts Education, commented “We are thrilled to have been selected as this year’s recipient for such a large sum of funding!” During the 2019-2020 school year, Pettit completed a needs assessment of the Music Department. “When the QPS Foundation grant window opened and the criteria was announced, I knew we had to literally “dream big” and go for the $25,000 in funding to be able to fully complete several needed projects.” In March Pettit formed a grant writing team including Ms. Sara Devine, Elementary Music Teacher at Thomas S. Baldwin Elementary School, and Mrs. Debbie Johnson, Music Teacher and Band Director at Quincy Junior High and Quincy Senior High Schools. The team collaborated on the grant submission titled “K – 12 Music For All.” The funds will purchase Orff xylophones and metallophones for primary elementary music, a classroom traveling set of ukuleles for upper elementary music students, a new set of Timpani for the Morrison Theatre Stage at Quincy Junior High School, and a classroom set of guitars to be used in the new Beginning Guitar elective course at Quincy Senior High School. The check was presented by QPS Foundation representatives Mr. Kent Embree, Executive Director and Ms. Amy Summers, Project Manager.
