139 Schools Receive 2019 Music and Arts Grant from California Casualty

San Mateo, CA, September 16, 2019 – One hundred and thirty nine public schools in 31 states will be receiving a $250 Music and Arts Grant from California Casualty. A total of $34,750 is going to provide materials, supplies, and instruments for art, music, and performance programs at the schools.

The Music and Arts Grant is designed to foster creativity in schools, such as choir, band, dance, film, theater, computer arts and graphics, or any K-12 curriculum that employs art for learning. 

Examples of how the $250 grants for 2019 will be used include:

• Purchasing special adaptive instruments for the Special Education Center at Mark Twain School in Garden Grove, CA, that serves special needs and medically fragile students.
• Supplying watercolor sets for third grade students at Homer Davis Elementary School in Tucson, AZ.
• Providing recorders for each music class student at Marie Roberts-Caney Elementary School in Lost Creek, KY.
• Acquiring Diary of a Whimpy Kid books to foster the reading program at Garfield Elementary School in Yakama, WA.
• Supplementing various art supplies (that the instructor often purchases with her own funds) at the Classical Studies Magnet Academy in Bridgeport, CT.
• Buying an additional camera to allow more students to participate in the photography program at Filer High School in Filer, ID.

The entire list of Music and Arts grantees can be found here.

California Casualty has partnered with education associations since 1951. We understand the importance of music and arts education for children. Numerous studies have concluded that sharing a love of the arts enhances students’:

• Brain development
• Creativity
• Classroom involvement

Music and art curriculum has also been shown to reduce disciplinary issues and dropout rates.

Unfortunately, many schools have reduced or eliminated music and arts education because of budget cuts. California Casualty hopes to fill the need with the Music and Arts Grant.

“Students love to showcase their creativity, and helping educators keep music and arts in the forefront of every-day learning is absolutely the right thing for us to do,” said California Casualty AVP Brian Goodman.

A pilot program in 2018 helped 50 programs at 46 schools in Kansas, Minnesota and Washington. This included purchasing ukuleles for the Kennydale Elementary School (WA) music and dance program, where music instructor Nikki Skinner said, “I look forward to, seeing students learn about reading music, playing as a group, working together and listening to each other as they grow and delight in their performance and celebrate an accomplishment.”

Dena Enyeart, at Cascade Middle School in Longview, WA, wrote this thank you note, “I was able to take the money from the Music and Arts Grant and have my students create ornaments. Other teachers made them with students too. We had 25 tables for our November Bazar, and raised over $1,200. This money has been used to help students in need finance their 8^th grade trip to Washington, D.C., and we were able to purchase close to 80 shirts for students at our school (to promote school unity. Thank you California Casualty for the opportunity to apply for the Music and Arts Grant. My kids not only loved making clay items, it ended up benefiting our entire school.

Public K-12 schools needing funding for an arts or performance program can apply for the 2020 Music and Arts Grant from California Casualty at www.calcasmusicartsgrant.com. 

Founded in 1914, California Casualty provides the NEA Auto and Home Insurance Program. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, with Service Centers in Arizona, Colorado and Kansas, California Casualty has been led by four generations of the Brown family. To learn more about California Casualty, or to request an auto insurance quote, please visit www.calcas.com/NEA  or call 1.866.704.8614.