February 2016

Upcoming Events: Improv Asylum Comedy Show

Tickets are now on sale for the Second Annual DEF Presents Improv Asylum to be held on March 5th right here in Duxbury. Boston’s “Best Comedy” will bring its wildly popular “funniest show you’ll ever be a part of” to the Performing Arts Center for a family-friendly daytime show and a 14+ age appropriate evening show. Proceeds will fund innovative programs in Duxbury schools. Visit www.duxburyeducationfoundation.org for details and tickets. 

Audience members will also be treated to a special performance from Duxbury students playing steel drums which were granted to the music department by DEF in 2015.

Grant Highlight: Steel Drums
Last year the DEF provided funding to the music department for the purchase of steel drums and we’re happy to share this recently received feedback on the subject:  “The addition of cello and bass pans to the steel drum band has transformed the group’s sound. Now we have instruments that can play in high, middle, and low registers, creating a much more authentic ensemble. In a world music ensemble such as this, students do not just learn about another culture, but they get to experience it firsthand through aural learning and performance. Unlike band, chorus, and orchestra, a steel drum band is taught entirely without notation. Students gain a deep understanding for the music through repetition, listening, and committing their parts to memory. Now that we have the cello and bass pans, the steel band has been learning 4-part arrangements of songs. We are currently preparing for performances in March at the All Band Night Concert and DEF Improv Asylum.” 

Thank you to our many contributors for supporting the DEF’s mission to provide innovative programs in the Duxbury schools. The steel drums are just one example of your generous donations being put to good use. 

 

January 2016

Upcoming Events:
Save-The-Date: The Second Annual DEF Presents Improv Asylum will be held on March 5th right here in Duxbury. Boston’s “Best Comedy” will bring its wildly popular “funniest show you’ll ever be a part of” to the Performing Arts Center for a family-friendly daytime show and a 14+ age appropriate evening show. Proceeds will fund innovative programs in Duxbury schools. Visit www.duxburyeducationfoundation.org for details and tickets. 

Grant Highlight:
It’s DEF grant season!  Right now - the DEF Board of Trustees invites its annual call for applications for grants to support innovative educational programs that benefit the students, teachers, or staff of the Duxbury Public School system.  Applicants can be anyone from the Duxbury Public School system (teachers, students and admin) or representatives from non-profit organizations in our community.  We’re interested in creative ideas and want to seed both small and large projects.

DEF funds two kinds of grants:  professional development opportunities and educational projects.  For grant criteria or an application, please visit our website at www.duxburyeducationfoundation.org.   We’ve mixed things up a bit for 2016 so even if you’ve applied before please take a look at our new application.  Applications are due on Leap Day, February 29 – and we’re encouraging Duxbury’s educators and youth leaders to ‘take a leap’ with their awesome ideas. Final votes on grants will occur in April. Grant monies will be released in early May and should be spent within one year.