Dear Parents, Students, and Friends,
Simply put, we raise funds for our students through good music. No wrapping paper, kringles, or frozen pizzas; no auctions or bake sales. As a parent, I’ve done my share of this and, while I will do anything for my kids, I always enjoy a reprieve from the fundraising marketplace. For The Étude Schools (and all schools), fundraising is a reality. However, like other realities we face in managing resources, we approach fundraising with a philosophy focused on community. Central to our fundraising philosophy is a belief that our fundraising approach should help to build up the community we serve.
On October 21st we open up Season 4 of the Étude Sessions at the newly renovated Paradigm Venue. We are excited to bring together a series that ties a returning act in We are the Willows, into new acts such a Birds of Chicago and the bluegrass sound of Dead Horses. Due to the success of the Joe Magnarelli/Dave Stoler show last season, we are bringing Tony Castañeda’s Latin Jazz Band. We will end the season at Paradigm with Peter Mulvey and his full band. We hope this music reaches a range of community members, just as its proceeds will reach our diverse student projects. After three seasons, we've been able to provide a live music experience for more than 3,000 people at two different venues.
The funds generated by these shows provide access to high quality programming we otherwise wouldn’t be able to offer. This year alone, we were able to add an additional First Lego League Jr. team at ESAA when we had over double the amount of students sign up for it. This provides high quality robotics and STEM programming to students who otherwise would not receive it. This year, as our 2nd and 3rd graders take a historical look at cultures within Wisconsin, we have the opportunity to work with Native Artist Mark Denning. The money raised through our concerts works with the funds provided by the Oneida Nation Arts Program to fully pay for his time with our kids.
Funds raised pay for college visits for our 8th - 12th graders at Mosaic and IDEAS. Money will also go to our Architectural Design class at The Mosaic School to purchase Lego Architecture Studio Kits. The proceeds from The Étude Sessions is leveraged to increase high quality programming for our students. This is crucial for our young people to succeed.
While we are not asking you to sell anything, we are asking for your support. First of all, we hope you attend the concerts. Our hope in creating The Étude Sessions was to create a social event in Sheboygan for people to enjoy good music at Paradigm Music & Coffee, one of the midwest’s premiere listening rooms (which is getting even better), with some local beer from 8th St. Ale Haus. Season tickets are available here and tickets for individual shows for We are the Willows, Birds of Chicago and Dead Horses are available by clicking on the links.
If you can’t attend the shows, a donation to the Étude Sessions helps us to continue to offset the costs of bringing the bands in and increase the amount of money going to our students. Lastly, we encourage you to spread the word about the shows by picking up a poster to post in your office or neighborhood, sharing the event on facebook, or inviting some friends for a nice weekend. We were fortunate to sell out The Avett Brothers, Jeff Tweedy, Phox and The Dave Stoler Quartet featuring Joe Magnarelli last year. We hope to keep that streak alive this year with our shows.
I look forward to seeing you at the show on October 21st to enjoy good music, good friends, good food and drink all supporting our students.
