Current Events

Music and Arts Partners holds successful benefit for WLWV schools

Mary Earp
October 22, 2012

Music and Arts Partners (MAP) held an event called Evening With Our Stars on Oct. 6 that brought in over $20,000 for the school district. The money will go to different aspects of arts programs in the 16 schools of the West Linn-Wilsonville School District.

“One hundred percent of the money we raised will go back to the arts programs to purchase instruments, supplies, residencies and clinicians and anything else teachers might need through our grant program,” Sarah Wright, President of MAP, said.

Evening With Our Stars took place at the Oregon Golf Club. The original goal of the event was to bring in $20,000, and MAP raised about $41,000, and after all expenses, netted about $26,000. This was the first auction that MAP has ever held, and it was a way to raise money as well as showcase talent, according to Wright.

“While one of the goals was to raise money for all of the arts programs in the 16 schools throughout the WLWV School District, our main goal was to highlight the incredibly talented students in our district and the teachers who are so dedicated to instilling a love of the arts in them,” Wright said. “We are so lucky to have the arts programs that we do in this district, as so many programs have been completely eliminated or cut down to the bare bones minimum in other districts. We wanted to show how important it is to our students and parents that we maintain our current standards.”

Many different groups of students performed at the event, displaying what Evening With Our Stars was promoting. West Linn’s Jazz Choir performed, and according to Liam Walker, junior, the group was happy to be there.

“The Music and Arts Partners event was a joy to be a part of,” Walker said. “I’m glad that I could help in the effort to support the programs at my school that I know and love.”

Wright regards the event as “the perfect evening of art, entertainment and auctions,” and she, along with MAP in general, was very pleased with the outcome.

“We had over 275 people in attendance and over 75 students from throughout the district put on a two hour performance that was spectacular,” Wright said. “We also had a student art display, and art students from throughout the district created all of the centerpieces for the dinner tables.”

According to Wright, the success of the event shows how much the arts are cherished in West Linn and Wilsonville. MAP’s next fund raising effort will be its annual ‘Dollars for the Arts’ campaign in March.

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About the Contributor

Mary Earp, Co Editor-in-chief

Perfectionist, outgoing and busy are just three of the many words that describe Mary Earp, senior. Earp heard about Amplifier from her eighth grade English teacher, and has been a part of the staff since her freshman year. Currently, she is one of the three Co-Editors-in-chiefs of the paper. Most people have goals that they would like to pursue in their life, and this is a true statement for Earp as well. “I want to be a doctor, and I know this sounds cheesy, but I would really like to make a difference in the world,” Earp said. After high school, her hopes include attending either Pomona College or University of California, Berkeley. Outside of school, Earp has a very hectic life which includes playing co-ed soccer, being a member of the school Mock Trial team and being the President of National Honor Society. She is traveling to New York in late October for an international Mock Trial Competition, Empire, where she is assigned to present the closing argument and both direct and cross examinations for the trial. Some highlights of Earp’s summer were hanging out with friends and taking a vacation to North Carolina, where she visited family and spent some time at the warm sunny beach. If Earp could visit any place two places in the world, she would choose “Italy and Machu Picchu, Peru, because the scenery is beautiful,” Earp said. Her favorite year in high school so far was junior year. “It challenged me the most and broadened my horizons,” Earp said. So far in her senior year, the class Earp most enjoys is AP Environmental Science, “It’s very interesting, enlightening, and I have a great teacher,” Earp said. Earp’s senior year is packed with AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus BC and AP English, leaving her with a long night of work to complete. The most challenging part of taking these classes “is all of the work involved,” Earp said. So far, her last year in high school has been hectic and full of work, yet she is excited and looking forward to all of the opportunities that lie ahead in her future.