This is a fund a need to help support LHS Show Choir. LHS Show Choir is made up of over 100 Lincoln high students. There are two show choirs at Lincoln High. The choirs perform at five show choir competitions around the state and host a the annual Links show choir invitational every January. Your support goes towards choreography, competition entry, arrangements, and performance rights for both of Lincoln High's Show Choirs. Requesting $15,000 plus cost reimbursement.

Thank you!
Colten McCauley
Vocal Music Director
Lincoln High School
2229 J St.
Lincoln, NE 68510

Music plays a vital role in cultures worldwide; shaping cultural identity, preserving traditions, and facilitating
communication and understanding across borders. It serves as a medium for expressing emotions, celebrating events, and transmitting knowledge and values across generations. There is much to be learned by students in the way this music is approached and practiced. It mirrors how many others around the world use music and provides contrast to the way western music is approached in typical school orchestra, band, and choir programs.
Using this non-traditional ensemble to create and perform music, students are guided by a teacher to learn the role of each instrument. Through guided facilitation of listening and responding, students create music in an exploratory way with both non-pitched & pentatonic-pitched instruments. Since the ability to read music is not a requirement, this ensemble provides opportunities to students who have not had opportunities in music and extends the learning of those who have by encouraging the true freedom of improvisation in a safe space.
This ensemble extends learning beyond the World Drumming Curriculum offered by Lincoln Public Schools. This fund will be granted to support the LPS West African Music Ensemble as designated by the fund administrator. Fund use may include (but is not limited to) instrument maintenance, member uniforms, supporting resources and materials, outside clinicians, leader training, transportation for community performances, etc.

Here's what your assistance could provide for our LPS students:
$50 - A traditional dashiki for student performance attire
$100 - New auxiliary instruments, mallets, or gyil stools
$500 - A new instrument - Kpanlogo drum or Gyil (West African Xylophone)
$1500 - Clinic experience (1-2 hours) with musician from Ghana or African ensemble
$7000 - Week long residency with master drummer from Ghana

🎨 No Waiting, Just Creating: Fund Full Class iPad Access ✍️
We are seeking essential funding to acquire an additional set of 14 iPads for the art department, complementing our existing inventory to finally achieve equitable access and full class participation in digital art and mixed media projects. While we currently possess 15 iPads with Apple Pro Pencils, this number is insufficient to serve a full class of students simultaneously, necessitating frustrating turn-taking and significant instructional delays. The funding for the additional 14 devices will allow us to immediately equip a standard class size, ensuring that every one of our 9th through 12th-grade students—who face diverse challenges—has hands-on access. This simultaneous access is critical, as currently, in one of my classes, only three students even have an iPad at home, highlighting a major technology gap. Integrating these iPads would allow us to utilize specialized features like pen display with pressure sensitivity, which provides a natural, intuitive way to draw superior to standard pen tablets. This fidelity is crucial for teaching professional skills using industry-standard apps like Procreate and Procreate Dreams. Crucially, this robust set of devices would be a shared resource available to the entire five-teacher art department, dramatically enhancing the scope and quality of our mixed media projects and digital art units for hundreds of students annually. We are requesting $8,792.00 plus cost reimbursement.  We thank you so much!