Arts foundation donation is highest in its history

The Burbank Arts For All Foundation recently wrote a check for $30,585 to support arts programs in Burbank schools — the biggest check it’s delivered during any one of its twice-a-year grant cycles since it was established in 2006.

The donation also comes with $25,883 in matching dollars from a combination of district funds and money raised from PTA and parent booster groups, said Trena Pitchford, executive director of the Burbank Arts For All Foundation.

Together, the $56,468 comes close to the $58,346 requested from educators in Burbank schools who filled out grant applications to receive money in the foundation’s latest grant cycle.

The funds will support Joaquin Miller and William McKinley Elementary schools, along with David Starr Jordan and Luther Burbank middle schools, John Burroughs and Burbank high schools and Magnolia Park, which serves students with behavioral challenges, as well as at-risk students at Community Day School.

“We see arts education, in its broadest term, as basic instruction for every student in the district, and quite possibly, a career pathway for our city’s future employees,” Pitchford told the Burbank Unified school board last week when she presented the foundation’s check.

The funds will support lighting improvements in the elementary auditoriums and provide more musical instruments for middle school students.

They will also pay for new musical instruments at the high schools, and support the English language arts programs.

One 10th-grade project will have students with disabilities create paper-maché noses while learning about Cyrano de Bergerac — the 17th-century French dramatist and duelist who has been portrayed to have a large nose.

Among other programs, the money will also pay for visual arts instruction for at-risk middle school and high school students enrolled in Burbank’s Community Day School.