The Kent County High School Brigade of Blue marches in the Chestertown Halloween Parade Saturday afternoon, Oct. 26. Kent County Public Schools received a $10,000 donation from the Kent Cultural Alliance earlier in the month for the music program.
ROCK HALL — The music department at Kent County High School received a generous donation last month for new instruments.
John Schratwieser, director of Kent Cultural Alliance, announced a $10,000 donation to the music program at a Kent County Board of Education meeting Monday evening, Oct. 14.
The money will be used to purchase instruments including saxophones and a performance piano for the Tom McHugh Black Box Theater at Kent County High School. Remaining funds will be used for instrument maintenance and parts.
Schratwieser said he was “standing on the shoulders” of Leslie Prince Raimond and the late Tom McHugh who, through the Kent County Arts Council, began supporting the arts in Kent County Public Schools decades ago.
“We’re happy to continue that tradition,” Schratwieser told the Board of Education members. “We know that you do the best that you are able to do with the resources that you have. We are happy to build upon that.”
Raimond was the longtime director of the Kent County Arts Council, which is now the Kent Cultural Alliance. McHugh founded the Mainstay music venue in Rock Hall after retiring from a teaching career that included Vassar College in New York.
The Kent Cultural Alliance has contributed $25,000 to the schools’ music program over the last two years, including funding from the Robert F. Schumann Foundation, a family foundation named for the father of local musician and environmentalist Ford Schumann. Additional support came from the Shared Earth Foundation, led by Caroline Gabel.
Dr. Mary Boswell-McComas, superintendent of Kent County Public Schools, thanks Kent Cultural Alliance Director John Schratwieser for his organization’s $10,000 donation to the school system’s music program.
The Kent Cultural Alliance has also donated about $10,000 to the school system’s visual arts programs over the last five years as well, including funding for two new kilns, digital drawing devices, field trips and more.
“Know that Kent Cultural Alliance will always be there to advocate for the Kent County Public Schools,” Schratwieser said. “Because we believe in the power of arts education.”
Dr. Mary Boswell-McComas, superintendent of Kent County Public Schools, thanked the Kent Cultural Alliance for its continued support of the arts programs, saying she is deeply grateful.
She said that the county’s small student enrollment creates budget challenges.
“It’s a testament that as a community, we refuse to allow fine arts to be marginalized,” Dr. McComas said. “And we could not continue to offer the programming and resources that we do without our partnerships.”
Gina Jachimowicz, director of teaching and learning for Kent County Public Schools, echoed those sentiments, adding that the community here takes a lot of pride in the arts.
“Without the generous support of our community, we would not be privy to the amazing advantages that our students have seen and the generous donation that the Kent Cultural Alliance has provided,” Jachimowicz said.