For Butler Avenue music teacher Shannan Benton, seeing and hearing a child play an instrument for the first time is a thrilling experience. In the last year, however, those images of watching her 8 and 9-year-olds playing instruments has become something of a pipe dream because of budget constraints.

But the funding issues aren’t stopping Benton, who decided to do something about the lack of resources, ensuring her students know the touch, the feel and the thought needed for playing instruments.

With the economic problems continuing to be an issue, Benton had found herself without any resources for making music come to life for her students, other than through the use of her Smart Board.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love my Smartboard, but I need my students to touch instruments, feel them and play them,” Benton said. Right now, she stated, her students can hear different melodies but they are not able to participate in actually making them.

In years’ past, if Benton and other music teachers wanted to buy instruments for their children, all they had to do was fill out a request for grant money from the Clinton Area Foundation for Education or Bright Ideas , but now, even those funds are not as available as they once were.

“We can’t turn in wish lists because there is not enough money,” Benton commented.

So, she decided to seek other means of support outside of the classroom. She is doing this by collecting box tops for all General Mills products. By collecting these box tops, she will be able to fund some instruments for her classroom. In value, one box top is worth 10 cent toward the purchase of her instruments.

“This is one way we can raise money,” the music teacher stressed.

In addition, she noted that her school can also raise funds by having parents open credit card accounts to certain places, like Target. A small percentage of money they spend, she noted, will be designated to Butler Avenue to help buy her instruments.

“Some places will place up to seven percent on whatever you buy,” Benton commented.

She also is accepting donations of instruments or funds to help purchase instruments.

While her classes have access to some instruments, they have to be shared among all the elementary students in the city system.

“It is really bad. There are just no funds,” said Benton, adding that she was unable to participate in any staff development last semester because of the same budget constraints.

With her plans to fund instruments, she does have a wish list of the type of instruments she would like to see her children play.

“I want to see them play multicultural instruments,” said Benton. Specific examples of those instruments include drums, glockenspiels, xylophones and metallophones.

“Every music teacher needs all these things,” she pointed out.

She also noted that some programs have been better able than others to receive grants, but music, she stressed, just didn’t seem to get the support as other programs.

For example, she pointed out that with so much emphasis on eliminating childhood obesity, the physical education programs in schools have been more successful at receiving grant funding.

“There is so much more money out there for physical education,” said Benton, but not so much for music.

In fact, Benton commented that the tightening of funds has even impacted the access the students get to music outside of the classroom.

“With the economy, the arts are folding,” said Benton.

Katie Holland can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 136, or by e-mail at silife@myclintonnc.com.