Lakewood Middle School Students Donate $200 to the Strand Center for the Arts
Students from the Lakewood Middle School (LMS) donated $200 to the Strand Center for the Arts, 400 Clifton Avenue, as their way of giving back to their community. Students wear a navy polo and khaki pants each day to school, according to dress code policy of the Lakewood school district. To raise money, students decided to “dress down” on a designated day and pay a $1.00 donation. The “Dress Down Day” raised $200, which the students donated to the Strand on their recent visit.
Richard Goldstein, the principal of the Lakewood Middle School, said that the dress code policy is one that students and their parents feel is important. “When I first became principal,” Goldstein said, “I sent out a survey asking parents and students if they wanted to end the dress code policy. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the dress code policy because it eliminates clothing competition among the students.”
According to Goldstein, students wanted to donate to the Strand because they have an interest in the performing arts. In a recent competition in Music in the Parks* at Great Adventure, the LMS students took home two awards: the Band was rated Superior and the Chorus was rated Excellent!
Accompanying the band, chorus, and orchestra students to the Strand for the check presentation were Principal Goldstein; Andrew Fodor, LMS band and orchestra director; and Rachel Resignato, LMS choral director. Accepting the check on behalf of the Strand Board of Directors were Fran Whitney, operations manager of the Strand; and Lori Davis, Strand front house manager.
*Music in the Parks (Wikipedia) is a day-long or two-day festival for student choral, orchestral, and band ensembles, held annually across the United States. Music groups perform before adjudicators who rate the ensemble in the morning, and then spend the day at an amusement park. The day culminates with an awards ceremony. Awards can be given to either a single player or a whole ensemble.