Our Impact
Supporting the arts in schools.
Every production brings neighbors together and supports arts education. Since 1992, Burns Park Players has given $300,000+ to music and arts programs across Ann Arbor Public Schools.
Explore 2025 giving2025 Giving
- Granted to Ann Arbor classrooms
- $17,623
- Teachers supported
- 28
- Schools reached
- 20
38 grants of $150–$500 helped teachers bring more instruments, materials, and creative opportunities into their classrooms.
See what the grants supported
In the classroom
What a grant makes possible
Explore all 38 grants from 2025, from first notes on a keyboard to a student-produced film. Each story shares what the funding supported in the classroom.
Forsythe Middle School
Grant amount: $150
Finding the beat together
A Dr. Beat metronome can connect to the classroom sound system so the whole band can hear the pulse together. The grant supported a tool for sixth- through eighth-grade students to practice subdivisions and rhythmic patterns as they prepare for concerts and other performances.
Eberwhite, Lawton, Thurston & Wines Elementary
Grant amount: $250
A more comfortable first instrument
Young trumpet players can struggle to hold their instruments comfortably. Thumb rests that attach to the trumpet offer a simple fix, helping approximately 30 beginning players across four elementary schools find a more comfortable grip.
Bryant Elementary
Grant amount: $500
Making room for music
Every child at Bryant visits the music classroom multiple times a week. This grant supported making more of the classroom’s instruments accessible to students while saving space, so the room can better serve the whole school.
Lawton & Thurston Elementary
Grant amount: $500
Materials for every learner
This grant supported classroom materials for kindergarten through fifth grade at Lawton and Thurston, including students in self-contained autism support classrooms. The teacher selected the items around how they would be used with students.
Huron High School
Grant amount: $500
Beyond pencil and paint
Printmaking supplies give about 120 high school art students room to explore techniques beyond the small linoleum prints previously available in class. The grant supported new printing methods and more varied work for students developing their college art portfolios.
Bryant Elementary
Grant amount: $500
Instruments within reach
In a music room short on storage, wheeled, adjustable stands make Orff instruments easier to move and more accessible to students. This grant supported a practical change to a classroom used by nearly 300 children at least twice a week.
Carpenter Elementary
Grant amount: $499
Small tools for beginning musicians
Mirrors help fifth-grade band students check their embouchure—the way they shape their mouths to play. A vacuum helps keep instrument cases clean for years of use. The grant described support for 12 clarinet players and eight trumpet players each year, as well as tools the whole band can use.
Pathways to Success High School
Grant amount: $500
Bringing student voices to the screen
For their end-of-year video production, “Voices from the Path,” students in Actors Studio at Pathways needed a new microphone, an LED light kit, and guidance from guest recording artists. The grant supported both the technical supplies and creative mentorship behind the project.
A2 STEAM
Grant amount: $300
Tools for practicing independently
Tuners and metronomes help about 100 string students in grades 5–8 tune their instruments and guide their own practice without a personal device. The same grant supported classroom rugs, giving cello and bass players a surface for their instruments’ endpins.
Scarlett Middle School
Grant amount: $497
Equipping the percussion section
Mallet and stick bags can be loaned to students who cannot afford their own. A concert tambourine and new drum-set heads also help keep the percussion section ready to perform. This grant supported equipment for more than 15 percussionists and for students who join the program in future years.
Tappan Middle School
Grant amount: $500
New music, more voices
New choral music opens up three- and four-part singing, songs in languages other than English, and work by new composers for about 180 choir students. The grant also supported arrangements of student-selected songs for the spring pop and musical theater program.
Forsythe Middle School
Grant amount: $500
Supporting the next choir performance
This grant supported all of Forsythe’s sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade choirs as they prepared for their end-of-year concert. It also helped the program begin preparing for the following year’s field trips.
King Elementary
Grant amount: $500
A new voice in the xylophone ensemble
An alto xylophone dating from before 1970 was beyond repair. Its replacement supports weekly music-making for more than 500 students, including the end-of-year game “10 Sly Piranhas,” which uses every xylophone in the classroom so more children can play together.
A2 STEAM
Grant amount: $500
Better materials for young artists
Higher-quality paints, glazes, and papers give young artists more possibilities as they choose what to create. This grant supported the choice-based art program for roughly 350 students from Young Fives through third grade.
Eberwhite, Lawton, Thurston & Wines Elementary
Grant amount: $400
A different way to play flute
An adaptation allows a flute to be played vertically, like a recorder, when the conventional playing position is a barrier. This grant supported making flute an option for a student who otherwise could not play it, through the music program serving four elementary schools.
Burns Park Elementary
Grant amount: $483
First notes on a piano
Mini piano keyboards give students hands-on ways to explore pitch and rhythm, then build toward chords, melodies, and their own compositions. The grant supported the K–5 music program, serving approximately 470 students, with a particular focus on grades 3–5.
Huron High School
Grant amount: $335
A stronger start on violin
Properly fitted shoulder rests help ninth- through twelfth-grade violinists hold their instruments comfortably and build sound playing habits. This grant supported orchestra students whose instrument setup was getting in the way of their progress, including students with limited access to their own equipment.
Tappan Middle School
Grant amount: $500
Keeping instruments ready to play
Cleaning snakes, swabs, valve oil, slide grease, and yarn mallets support Tappan’s sixth- through eighth-grade band. The grant helps keep instruments in good condition for future students while making care supplies available to students who cannot afford their own.
Angell Elementary
Grant amount: $500
Bringing world rhythms to the classroom
A World Music Drumming learning opportunity supported building skills and knowledge for the classroom. The grant was intended to benefit current students and those who join the school in future years.
Pittsfield Elementary
Grant amount: $498
Helping young band players get started
This grant, listed for Pittsfield, describes support for fifth-grade band students at Mitchell. Mirrors help students check their embouchure—the way they shape their mouths to play—while a trombone stand protects the teacher’s instrument. The grant described benefits for 12 clarinet players and eight trumpet players each year.
Huron High School
Grant amount: $500
Exploring the art of jewelry
This grant supported jewelry classes for students in grades 9–12. The teacher described a growing program that typically serves around 100 students each year.
Angell Elementary
Grant amount: $500
Learning through felt and sewing
Felt and sewing projects give students in grades 2–5 a chance to work with tactile materials. The grant supported hands-on art that develops craftsmanship, coordination, and dexterity as children make their own pieces.
Haisley Elementary
Grant amount: $471
Ready for a first concert
First Performance music books introduce about 50 fifth-grade band students each year to a variety of musical styles. The grant also supported essential clarinet reeds, a replacement alto saxophone mouthpiece, and a percussion kit to replace worn or incomplete equipment—practical supplies that help beginners keep playing.
Thurston Elementary
Grant amount: $500
More children playing together
Nine glockenspiels let more students make music at the same time, while a bass xylophone stand makes a large instrument easier to move and reach. The grant supported about 450 students in Young Fives, grades 1–5, and three autism support classrooms, with more hands-on practice for developing motor skills.
Tappan Middle School
Grant amount: $500
Opening the script
Scripts and related materials support performing arts classes for roughly 450 students in grades 6–8. This grant puts the written material for classroom theater work into students’ hands.
Thurston Elementary
Grant amount: $500
A comfortable place to make music
Two additional adjustable Sonor Orff stands provide safe support for classroom instruments, helping students of different sizes play comfortably. The grant supported a program serving approximately 500 students across all grades, with equipment that can be rearranged for active music learning.
Eberwhite, Lawton, Thurston & Wines Elementary
Grant amount: $500
Caring for clarinets—and the environment
Washable clarinet swabs replace ones that must be thrown away at the end of each school year. The grant supported approximately 30 fifth-grade clarinet players each year across four schools, connecting instrument care with a lesson in reducing waste.
Pittsfield Elementary
Grant amount: $500
Trying new ways to create
Needle-felting and sewing tools give upper-grade students a chance to create with materials they might not otherwise encounter. The grant also supported new equipment and supplies available to students throughout the school.
Forsythe Middle School
Grant amount: $500
Giving a scene its finishing touches
Forsythe’s performing arts program had enthusiastic students but needed more props and costumes. The grant supported a shared collection for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade classes, with about 250 students able to use the pieces in their performances.
Huron High School
Grant amount: $500
Printmaking in the photo classroom
Reusable gelli plates, screen-printing fabric, inks in a range of colors, and four printing brayers expand the materials available to Huron’s darkroom photography students. The grant supported students in grades 9–12 exploring these printing processes.
Ann Arbor Open School
Grant amount: $500
A xylophone to share
A new xylophone supported the fifth- through eighth-grade band program. Approximately 20 percussion students could use the instrument at different points throughout the school year, making one purchase part of many students’ musical experience.
Mitchell Elementary
Grant amount: $499
Building good habits in band
Mirrors let fifth-grade band students see how they form their embouchure, helping them develop their playing technique. A vacuum supports keeping instrument cases clean over years of use. The grant described benefits for 12 clarinet players and eight trumpet players each year, with tools shared by the band.
Skyline High School
Grant amount: $500
Seeing the next step on the field
A marching-band app lets students see the path between formations, instead of relying only on stacks of printed charts. The grant supported approximately 105 students in grades 9–12 as they learn where to move next, while reducing the paper needed for rehearsals.
A2 STEAM
Grant amount: $500
Independent practice and new repertoire
Tuners and metronomes help 115 students in grades 5–8 guide their own practice. Adjustable-height drum pads make equipment easier to use, while a more diverse selection of solo and ensemble music offers new pieces to explore.
King Elementary
Grant amount: $415
Giving well-loved instruments more years
Pins, tubing, and storage materials support repairs to the school’s aging xylophones. With the teacher undertaking the repairs, this grant helps maintain the instruments already serving the music classroom.
Forsythe Middle School
Grant amount: $326
Music for small ensembles
Duet, trio, quartet, and study books bring more modern music to 76 seventh- and eighth-grade band students, including those preparing for Solo & Ensemble Festival and All-State Honors Band. A clarinet mouthpiece and durable ligature also support students who need access to equipment that is easier to play.
Huron High School
Grant amount: $500
More possibilities in clay and sculpture
Additional materials give approximately 100 ceramics and sculpture students more ways to explore their creativity. The grant supported classes made up mostly of tenth- through twelfth-graders, with some ninth-grade students as well.
Scarlett Middle School
Grant amount: $500
A pianist alongside the choir
Piano accompaniment supports singers in Scarlett’s sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade choirs. This grant helped cover accompanist costs for a program serving approximately 115 students.
Across 20 school communities
Together, these 38 grants supported music, visual arts, and performing arts across Ann Arbor Public Schools in 2025.
- A2 STEAM
- Angell
- Ann Arbor Open
- Bryant
- Burns Park
- Carpenter
- Eberwhite
- Forsythe
- Haisley
- Huron
- King
- Lawton
- Mitchell
- Pathways to Success
- Pittsfield
- Scarlett
- Skyline
- Tappan
- Thurston
- Wines
Come be part of it
Join the cast, lend a hand backstage, or come to a performance. Every production helps support arts education in Ann Arbor.
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