Members of the Hollister-based band Fat Loser Boy know the value
of musical education
– which is why they recently gave a check for $980 to the
Hollister School District’s music program.
Members of the Hollister-based band Fat Loser Boy know the value of musical education – which is why they recently gave a check for $980 to the Hollister School District’s music program.
All but one of the five-member band learned some of their musical skills through the school district’s band program and wanted to return the favor.
“It’s kind of where it all starts. If you can get (kids) interested in music, it’s really a neat band program,” said Zack O’Conner, Fat Loser Boy’s bass guitarist. “We’d like to see a lot more kids involved in music and to get them involved when they’re younger.”
Members of the band presented the check at a Christmas concert Wednesday night performed by the combined Rancho San Justo-Marguerite Maze middle schools band. The presentation brought a roar of applause from the audience.
The money was generated from a Fat Loser Boy concert at Abundant Life Foursquare Church in Hollister Dec. 6.
“I just think it’s so awesome,” said Susan Chizek, who teaches music throughout the Hollister School District. “These guys started off in the elementary music program and it was so important to them to give back. It shows how important music is in their life.”
Chizek plans to use the money to buy instruments for students in the district who can’t afford to buy their own. More than 100 students signed up for band this year who could not participate because of a lack of instruments, she said.
Fat Loser Boy’s donation was part of a Gavilan College class project, a comprehensive service-learning project titled “Making a Difference.” Students are required to plan and implement a project to make a positive difference in the community. Six students from the class, including three members of Fat Loser Boy, spent more than two months on their project.
“It’s not easy and requires a lot of time and effort, but my students find it one of the most rewarding and educational experiences they have been involved in,” said Denise Besson-Silvia, instructor of the class.
Hollister resident Rachelle Escamilla, who is in the same class, coordinated a group of Gavilan students for a project called Kids in the Community. The project sponsored two needy children to receive new school clothes with a $150 donation to the Small Steps holiday shopping tour in November. Members of Escamilla’s team also volunteered at the Small Steps event at Kmart and Payless Shoes.
Another group of Hollister students in the class created the Homeless Awareness Response Team, which collected canned food and volunteered a collective 80 hours to help the homeless.
The class will not be affected by budget cuts at Gavilan, allowing more students participate in the program, Besson-Silvia said.
