FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As of January 21, 2025
For more information, contact:
David Endicott, (206) 409-3275
David@Music4Life.org
Music4Life Adds Sultan School District
SEATTLE, Washington Music4Life is adding its 14th chapter by serving the students of families in-need who attend the Sultan School District. Students receive ready-to-play musical instruments at no charge to the school district. Another chapter is in-process of organizing and will become the 15th.
The Seattle-based non-profit acquires instruments from adults who no longer need them and decide that their highest and best use is to put them back into play. The Music4Life Donor Form must accompany the instrument. Music4Life started in 2007 by providing ready-to-play musical instruments to Seattle Public Schools. Since then, chapters have been added for Highline, Shoreline, Edmonds, Everett, Northshore, Bremerton, Auburn, Kent, Marysville, Riverview, Lake Washington and now Sultan (officially the Sky Valley Chapter) public school districts.
Sultan Superintendent Dan Chaplik says “Music4Life is a wonderful gift in our schools, especially those with larger numbers of students who may not be able to afford a musical instrument. The program provides yet another support for students and contributes to reducing barriers to accessing music programs that serve students in school and for the rest of their lives.”
Debbie Copple, Executive Director of the Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce, initiated the new chapter. Cheryl Ricevuto serves as the chapter’s founding president and notes that “It’s important to the education of all students who want to participate in the band programs in our schools that they can do so. Parents and community members agree! Our Sky Valley Music4Life Chapter provides a way for supporters to get instruments they no longer use into the hands of students who will find joy in being in band.”
Research shows that students who participate in school-based instrumental music activities do better in math, science, history, literature, international languages, reading and writing, even in computer science, in addition to what it teaches in terms of teamwork and self-discipline. “Not all children want to participate in instrumental music activities, of course,” says Co-Founder/CEO David Endicott. “But for those who do and whose families cannot afford a musical instrument, they are effectively barred from getting the full basic education guaranteed by the Washington Constitution. And the sad fact is that, even in today’s post-pandemic economy, many families cannot even afford to rent a musical instrument. So Music4Life is just as much an education program as it is an instrumental music program.”