Sarasota schools in need of additional instruments for band students

SARASOTA, Fla. - Music lives in Glenda Holton's soul. As a senior, she'll take the top honor of drum major at Venice High School.

"It's really just like an hour in the school day where you can play music and see all your friends. It’s a relaxing part of my day for me," she said. 

But last spring as COVID-19 spread, the music was silenced. 

"It was really upsetting to me to not be able to come back and play," said Holton. 

Now, instructors throughout the Sarasota County School District are preparing for a new year and a new way of playing. 

"We are so fortunate that using some research studies that we are able to get students back to playing all be it in a different atmosphere than different," said David Wing, the director of bands for Venice High School.

Bell coverings will act as a face mask for instruments and students will wear masks that allow them to play. Classrooms will also be spaced out. 

But music teachers need additional instruments for students. This year, they cannot be shared. 

"We never want to tell a student that they do not have access to being involved in music. It’s already hard enough," said Wing. 

Just about every instrument -- flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, saxophone, French horn, trumpet, trombone, baritone, tuba, percussion instruments, violin, viola, cello, upright bass, bass guitar and electronic keyboards -- is needed. 

"We don’t want to take those opportunities away at all and right now I believe the world needs hope and I think music can provide that hope for our kids," said Wing. 

Nicole Schmaling hopes the community will step up. She's watched as band transformed her sons. 

"It was so important for them for their sense of community, for outlet of energy, creativity," she said. 

That creativity allows an escape that's needed now more than ever. 

"It's really important to their creative outlet to a little bit of a sense of normalcy," she said. 

LINKS: To help, contact david.wing@sarasotacountyschools.net or tamara.lewis@sarasotacountyschools.net .