OKC School Instruments Playing a New Tune

Oklahoma City – On the floor of the warehouse sat more than 1,200 string instruments with various ailments. A few of the lucky ones only needed new strings, but then there were the hard cases, those with broken necks, missing parts and cracked bodies. Those needed more than TLC, they needed expert care. And that’s just what the instruments are going to get thanks to a new, three-year Instrument Inventory project being undertaken by the Oklahoma City Public Schools District and The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools.

The Instrument Inventory project, funded through a Foundation Arts in Education grant, will evaluate every instrument in the District and identify needed repairs. Additionally a system to track instrument resources throughout the District will be created to efficiently plan for instrument maintenance, repair and replacement.

"The Instrument Inventory is providing a valuable tool to help the District's arts program excel," said Robyn Hilger, The Foundation's Program Director. "Studies have found that participation in arts programs can reach students who struggle in the conventional classroom. And a recent Harris Poll found that 86% of American adults with a college education participated in music education. That’s why supporting arts education is essential in helping our students succeed today and tomorrow."

This first year of the Instrument Inventory project is focused on the District's strings inventory. The first step was a string repair workshop for District string instructors that provided each instructor with their own string instrument repair kit. Over the summer, all of the District's string instruments, more than 1,200, were brought to a central warehouse. Each instrument was inventoried, valued and assessed for needed repairs. Using skills learned at the string repair workshop, District string instructors were able to repair more than 300 instruments during the summer.

For the more than 500 remaining instruments, highly, specialized technicians will be required to make repairs. Based on the cost to repair or replace the damaged instrument, a committee comprised of District music instructors determined which instruments would be repaired and which would be retired from the District's inventory. By December 2008, 350 instruments will be repaired. The remaining string instruments will be recalled for repair as the District budget allows, according to project planners.

Band instruments are scheduled to be inventoried next summer. Each band instrument will also be evaluated and needed repairs identified. For the final year of the project, the District’s remaining instruments are scheduled for inventory and evaluation.