For 13 years, Ms. Pagan, the music teacher at Amelia Earhart Elementary in Hialeah, FL, had all of the necessary training for her job, but couldn’t put it to use because her school didn’t have instruments or even a classroom. Without resources, Ms. Pagan would push around a cart filled with any supplies she could find. Now, thanks to Save The Music, Toyota, Publix, music industry supporters, and the district who transformed its old woodshop, Ms. Pagan has everything she needs to give her kids the music education they deserve.
Having a music program in this school means the world to my kids…They get to learn how to sing, dance, and perform on instruments that they would probably never see if it wasn’t for you guys giving us these instruments and providing this opportunity for us. This is just going to change their world. And I’m just so excited to get started. Thank you.
To celebrate, we gathered all of our partners to check out the brand-new music room, see the instruments that were donated as part of our Introduction to Music Grant, and hear the students play.
They kicked off the concert with a fitting performance of “Funga Alafia,” a West African welcome song. (Later on, the adults joined in on the drums and Orff instruments for an impromptu lesson!)
Tyler McBride, Toyota’s Engagement and Events Marketing Manager, talked about how Toyota’s slogan, “Let’s Go Places,” aligns with music education as it allows students to explore new opportunities and discover their full potential.
Nicole Krauss, Publix’s Media & Community Relations Manager, spoke about how Publix is focused on helping causes its customers are passionate about, and shared her close ties to the community as her mother was a former principal at Hialeah Senior High School. Dr. Verena Cabrera, currently the Region Administrative Director, responded that she was also a past principal at that school and worked at Publix as her first job. What a small world!
Music truly connects all of us. Thank you to Toyota and Publix for helping us restore the program at Amelia Earhart Elementary!
About Toyota: Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in the U.S. and North America for 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design, engineering, and assembly of more than 33 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 46,000 people (more than 36,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold almost 2.7 million cars and trucks (2.45 million in the U.S.) in 2016 – and about 85 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.
Toyota partners with community, civic, academic, and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We share company resources and extensive know-how to support non-profits to help expand their ability to assist more people move more places. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
About Publix: Throughout our history, our associates and customers have helped Publix grow from a single store into the largest employee-owned company in the United States. We thank them by remaining deeply dedicated to customer service and community involvement, and being a great place to work. Our mission at Publix is to be the premier quality food retailer in the world. To that end, we commit to be: Passionately focused on customer value, intolerant of waste, dedicated to the dignity, value and employment security of our associates, devoted to the highest standards of stewardship for our stockholders, and involved as responsible citizens in our communities.
Our mission at Publix Super Markets Charities is to endeavor to meet the needs of the people in our community. To that end, we commit to be dedicated to the dignity and value of the human spirit—helping strengthen it to overcome adversity, determined to offer people hope and a choice for the future, and devoted to the highest standards of community involvement as demonstrated by our founder, George W. Jenkins. As responsible citizens, Publix and Publix Charities happily support efforts to improve our communities. We’re particularly passionate about youth, education and helping the homeless and hungry within our operating areas.