Middle school teacher receives instrument donations after social media post

ERIE, Pa. — A social media post has prompted a wave of donations.

When Strong Vincent Middle School music teacher Marena Grondziowski put up a post on Facebook asking her friends to donate old or unused musical instruments, she was expecting a few friends to share it and was hoping for a couple of donations.

The response she received was much bigger.

"The post was shared 600 times and we got 20 instruments donated just from what I put up," Grondziowski, 25, said. "We had one person donate three instruments to us. I was getting calls, messages and texts. It was overwhelming in the best way. The positivity and the encouragement were so nice."

She received instruments that included saxophones, clarinets, French horns, guitars and more.

Grondziowski became a music teacher at Strong Vincent about halfway through the 2018-19 school year and had around 80 students who signed up for the band. When she took a glance at the list for the 2019-20 school year, she knew she would need some help.

TRENDING NOW:

"We had 112 kids express interest this year," she said. "It was a good problem to have and I was thrilled, but I realized that we were going to have to do something so these kids would have instruments to play."

Strong Vincent has a program that allows students to borrow instruments to avoid the expense of purchasing them. One of the students who has an instrument on loan is Kaila Edwards, 13, an eighth-grader who plays the flute.

"I just had to sign for it and get to take it home to practice it. I love it," she said. "To buy a new one would have been $200 or more. I feel lucky."

Grondziowski said the students have expressed gratitude that they have more instruments to choose from.

"I want them to be able to try a new instrument if they choose," she said. "Even to have them learn to put together or become familiar with other instruments."

She is still accepting donations for her classroom and is specifically in need of more band instruments. The public is invited to donate by contacting Grondziowski by email at mgrondziowski@eriesd.org or calling the school at 874-6500.

Erie Times-News