Before band teacher Ken Harrison began an after-school, tuition-based band program seven years ago, music wasn’t a big part of education at Hermosa Valley School. Last summer, the program Harrison started nearly went silent.
“There were some changes from the district for this school year that basically said that the band had to be separated from the school,” Harrison said. “It came down to [the idea that] if it’s under the school’s umbrella, it’s the school’s liability, so they cut it.”
Harrison turned to his students’ parents for help and, within a few weeks, Regina Hoffman and seven others had grouped together and created the non-profit Hermosa Beach Youth Music program.
Hoffman, a band parent and president of the HBYM program, said the main purpose of establishing the non-profit was so that parents could take over all the administrative aspects of the band and leave Harrison to focus on teaching.
Hoffman said the Hermosa Beach community also played a key role in helping the band program live on, and in adapting it to become a parent-run program.
“We had to work with a lawyer so we could set up as a nonprofit, and there was a great lawyer in Hermosa Beach who did everything for free, [and] an accountant in Hermosa who did everything for free,” Hoffman said. “They were all behind us and wanted to help us get all set up so we could continue the program.”
Although it’s now separated from Hermosa Valley, Hoffman said the 30-member band, whose players use percussion, woodwind and brass instruments, still holds practice on campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“Staying in the school I think kept more kids in the program. The parents feel more comfortable leaving their kids at school as opposed to having us take them somewhere else,” said Hoffman.
However, due to overcrowding at the school, Harrison said the band usually practices in the Hermosa Valley’s library, and sometimes in the courtyard if the library is being used for another event.
“God bless the librarian for allowing us to share the space, but space is the number one issue,” said Harrison, who is a full-time band teacher at Turning Point School in Culver City. “It would be nice to have a dedicated space where we would actually have teaching tools like a board.”
In addition to his concern for their practice space, Harrison said the fact that the band only meets twice a week poses a hindrance to his students’ success.
“I’m trying to get [students] ready to enter band at [Mira Costa High or Redondo Beach] and play with students who have played on band instruments starting in fourth grade or third grade even,” Harrison said. “Where I see them only twice a week, in Manhattan they are getting [band] as a graded elective. So, not only is it a regular consistent thing, they’re motivated by the grades and they’re there every day with hands-on teacher instruction.”
Ultimately, both Harrison and Hoffman said, their goal is to further develop the program and have it put back into the school curriculum.
“[Band] is integral in so many different parts of their learning, I mean you have to know math to do band,” Hoffman said. “You have to know measures and how many beats to a measure. There are just so many intellectual things that you have to know in order to play an instrument.”
Superintendent Patricia Escalante said although the district would like to bring band and other arts back into the school curriculum, the current budget does not allow for it.
“Bringing the arts into the schools is absolutely essential,” Escalante said. “We cannot eliminate avenues for creativity with our students in the arts… but we are operating at a $2 million deficit because of the governor’s current funding formula, so until that is resolved we are really appreciative of our parents and our community business partners to have funded our ability to keep the current programs in place. “
Presently, HBYM asks parents for a minimum donation of $550 per year to sign a child up for band, band parent Hoffman said. However, those donations only cover a portion of the group’s costs.
“Fundraisers are a huge part of how we do what we do, because the money that the parents give goes toward paying Mr. Harrison,” Hoffman said. “We’re going to start a choir in the fall … in order to do the choir we might have to buy a keyboard because we obviously need accompaniment and things like that.”
Candy Ayllón-McPhail, one of the eight creators of HBYM, a band parent and public relations manager, said that community support has been instrumental in the success of the nonprofit’s first year.
“There are a lot of parents who want to support the band and of course the kids,” Ayllón-McPhail said. “The parents are very happy…people send us checks randomly. “
In an effort to raise additional money, HBYM has organized several fundraising events this year. The most successful has been Handel’s Ice Cream Sandwich day, which takes place on campus on the first Tuesday of every month, Ayllón-McPhail said.
“The band actually has its own flavor at Handel’s called BANDelicious. It is brownie chunks [and] marshmallows swirled in chocolate and vanilla ice cream,” Ayllón-McPhail said. “It’s not actually on official Handel’s ice cream list, but we carry the flavor when we sell it.”
HBYM also welcomes donations of lightly-used instruments, Hoffman said.
For more information about donations and dates, visit hbym.org or email hbyouthmusic@gmail.com. ER
