Edmondson Elementary School Receives Music Grant from Target

Published January 11, 2007

Congratulations to Edmondson Elementary School, which has recently been named a tentative recipient of a national $1,000 music grant from Target. The Target Field Trip Grant will enable the school to take its upper level choir group to its first live musical at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center this spring. Target selected Edmondson from hundreds of schools nationwide seeking funds for field trips ranging from visits to science and art museums to historic sites and marine labs.

Music Director Beth Kolwyck secured the grant by outlining her vision to give students their first glimpse of a live musical along with the opportunity to see behind-the-scenes and meet with the director and cast. The musical is The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It is a comedic, fast-moving story that incorporates familiar subject matter for grade-school children: a spelling bee. Characters address the pressures of peer competition and sometimes overzealous parents while spelling their way to the top. The Tony Award-winning performance was heralded by the Wall Street Journal for its unique ability to engage the audience as on-stage spellers.

The winning proposal, submitted by volunteer grant writer Jessica Young, is one of several being sought this year by Edmondson Elementary as part of a program by Principal Marvin Wells to further enrich classroom curriculum in areas such as music, art, literacy and technology. In November, the school hosted an in-house field trip with NASA Academy scientists who discussed the status of Pluto and future space travel with third, fourth, and fifth graders.