Yamaha Cares Donates Keyboards To Orange County High School for the Arts
BUENA PARK, Calif. Songwriting students at the Orange County High School of the Arts recently received a special surprise: 20 new keyboards from Yamaha Cares to help them craft their masterpieces.
Students must audition to get a spot in the coveted school, which was established in 1987. A public charter school that serves over 1,300 students in grades 7 to 12 who hail from 92 cities in Southern California, the school recently received recognition as a California Distinguished School from the California Department of Education.
Earlier this year, Yamaha Cares fielded a request to provide keyboards for a songwriting class that had no instruments and turned to Walt Straiton, Manager of Education Resources at Yamaha's Academic and Institutional Resources department, to determine the ideal product for the class.
"This is a tremendous donation and our students are so appreciative of the gift," said Catherine Michaels, the school's Director of Development. "Yamaha has been a great supporter of our work in the past and we look forward to strengthening the relationship in the future."
The students signed a lovely plaque and sent several hand-made cards to Yamaha Cares. One student wrote that the instruments "will definitely be put to good use," adding in bold letters "WE LOVE YOU YAMAHA!" One senior drew an impressionistic treble clef and wrote that "we have been talking about having our own keyboards in the Voice Conservatory for so long, ever since I started in 8th grade, and it really is amazing to see this happening Thank you so much again for these beautiful keyboards." The "generous offer," wrote another budding superstar, "makes me even more excited to start my career as a musician."
Yamaha Cares is active in fundraising efforts for many other Southern California programs, including the Children's Hospital of Orange County, the Special Olympics, college music scholarships, The Boys and Girls Club, The Susan G. Komen Foundation, American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, Make a Wish Foundation, Families of Camp Pendelton, Orange County Food Bank and Toys For Tots, to name just a few.
For more information on Yamaha Cares, visit www.yamaha.com/yamahacares, or write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.
 School President and Executive Director, Ralph Opacic (second from left), presents Carol Baker, Vice President of Human Resources at Yamaha, with a signed, framed photo. Flanking them are Walt Straiton (far left), Manager of Education Resources at Yamaha's Academic and Institutional Resources, and Tom Sumner (far right), Senior Vice President at Yamaha. |
Earlier this year, Yamaha Cares fielded a request to provide keyboards for a songwriting class that had no instruments and turned to Walt Straiton, Manager of Education Resources at Yamaha's Academic and Institutional Resources department, to determine the ideal product for the class.
"This is a tremendous donation and our students are so appreciative of the gift," said Catherine Michaels, the school's Director of Development. "Yamaha has been a great supporter of our work in the past and we look forward to strengthening the relationship in the future."
The students signed a lovely plaque and sent several hand-made cards to Yamaha Cares. One student wrote that the instruments "will definitely be put to good use," adding in bold letters "WE LOVE YOU YAMAHA!" One senior drew an impressionistic treble clef and wrote that "we have been talking about having our own keyboards in the Voice Conservatory for so long, ever since I started in 8th grade, and it really is amazing to see this happening Thank you so much again for these beautiful keyboards." The "generous offer," wrote another budding superstar, "makes me even more excited to start my career as a musician."
Yamaha Cares is active in fundraising efforts for many other Southern California programs, including the Children's Hospital of Orange County, the Special Olympics, college music scholarships, The Boys and Girls Club, The Susan G. Komen Foundation, American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, Make a Wish Foundation, Families of Camp Pendelton, Orange County Food Bank and Toys For Tots, to name just a few.
For more information on Yamaha Cares, visit www.yamaha.com/yamahacares, or write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.