Blake Shelton provided a very special gift to students at his former high school
Country music superstar Blake Shelton has been creating music for over 20 years. He has repeatedly topped the charts, sold out stadiums nationwide, and been celebrated with some of the genre’s biggest awards. None of this would have been possible, however, had the Oklahoma native not discovered a passion for music or had the opportunity to learn.
Recently, Blake partnered with Music Will, an organization that provides music education to students who might not otherwise have access to music in their schools. Blake returned to his former high school in his hometown of Ada, Oklahoma, and surprised them with a generous gift.
Blake’s donation included multiple guitars, a drum kit, amplifiers, and other music equipment. In addition to the new gear, Blake surprised the students by making a personal appearance on stage at their assembly.
He reflected on the experience:
“Music is so important and it’s really special getting to be part of this and help give the kids this opportunity.”
See a video from Blake Shelton’s day with Music Will at Ada High School below!
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Music Will is on a mission to transform lives by transforming music education
Music Will is a national non-profit organization founded in 2002 by David Wish. Early in his teaching career, Wish became frustrated with the lack of music education in his school and began teaching guitar lessons on the side. Soon, he began teaching other teachers to do the same, and eventually, the idea of Music Will was born.
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Music Will is responsible for the largest nonprofit music program in the U.S. public school system. It provides teacher training, curriculum, resources, and instruments so that students can learn music from their favorite genres. While many schools only offer instruction on classical and jazz, Music Will programs teach rock, pop, R&B, Latin, rap, country, and more.
So far, Music Will has supported 6,000 schools, donated 100,000 musical instruments and equipment, and served 1.8 million students. Their national network includes K-12 schools in more than 600 towns. Additionally, 70 colleges and universities use their approach to music education.
Music Will has partnered with artists such as Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, and others to further expand their impact.
Learn more about Music Will in the video below!