Whitehall-Coplay School District will lead a community music instrument collection to support its students involved in the instrumental music program as a part of the celebration of Music in Our Schools Month.

Music in Our Schools Month is a national program sponsored by the National Association for Music Education and is held every March. This collection drive aims to help ensure access to music education in addition to district-funded musical instrument purchases.

In the last three years, the number of students in grades 4 through 12 in WCSD interested in playing a musical instrument has increased dramatically. The district provides musical instruments for students to use and continues to reinvest in this program each year with new musical instruments, band supplies and instructional materials. Through this collection, WCSD will expand its ability to provide students with more in-house instruments.

“I want to thank our community for considering donating musical instruments [that] may not be in use. The students of the Whitehall-Coplay School District will certainly use any donated musical instruments to help expand our instrumental music program, grow our Marching Zephyr Band and make sure each student has an instrument to use,” Whitehall High School Principal Dr. Peter Mayes said.

According to Michael Tanzos, instrumental music teacher and band director, “This opportunity will allow us to include more students in our program who may want to play a unique instrument or do not have the resources to overcome that first step to learning a new instrument.”

WCSD will accept donations of all standard band instruments, including flutes, trombones, saxophones, trumpets, tubas, bassoons, French horns, clarinets, piccolos, oboes, violins, violas, basses, cellos, drums, keyboards and guitars. For logistical reasons, the district cannot accept pianos.

Donations of musical instruments will be accepted on behalf of WCSD 7 a.m.-4 p.m. at WHS, 3800 Mechanicsville Road, Whitehall. Community members can contact the main office at 610-437-5081 for additional information or assistance.