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Steve Ciccolini fund gives $16,000 to Gardner schools for instruments and equipment
Summary
The Gardner School Committee accepted a $16,000 gift from the Steve Ciccolini Music and Education Fund to be split among Gardner Elementary, Middle and High schools for instruments, storage and related costs; committee members described the gift as longstanding local support for school music programs.
The Gardner School Committee on Oct. 14 accepted a $16,000 gift from the Steve Ciccolini Music and Education Fund to be split between Gardner Elementary School, Gardner Middle School and Gardner High School.
The committee voted to approve the consent agenda, which included the donation. School Committee member Ms. Lefreniere told the committee the gift was made in memory of a local musician and that the fund has awarded more than $104,000 to area schools over recent years.
"We did receive communication along with that 16,000, and it was, it was a gift, $16,000 from the Steve Ciccolini Music and Education Fund to split between the elementary, middle, and high school," Ms. Lefreniere said. "Steve was a local musician from Leominster who passed away in 2021, and the fund was established in his memory to keep music alive with the younger generations in the Central Massachusetts area. Over the past few years, the fund has been able to award over a $104,000 to local area schools and community music programs. And we are extremely grateful, to be this 1 of this year's, recipients."
Committee member Mr. Schwartz praised the donors. "It's great that we have citizens in the area that make money and invest that money and want to share it with the communities in the area, and we're able to get $16,000 for our music program for the school this year. I think that's fantastic," he said.
Committee discussion identified planned uses for the money across the three schools. Committee members said the elementary-school portion will cover a new clarinet, an instrument-storage system and a festival fee; the middle-school portion will fund a baritone saxophone, sound equipment and keyboard stands; and the high-school portion will be used to buy baritone saxophones. Those allocations were presented to the committee as part of the consent items included in the meeting packet.
The motion to accept the consent agenda, which included the gift, was made and seconded by committee members and carried by voice vote.
The Ciccolini fund was described in committee remarks as an established local philanthropic source for music education that has supported Gardner-area programs and schools in prior years.
