Robyn Starks Holcomb from Roosevelt High School will use $561.45 for her project, “Recording Hub.”

With the funds, Robyn will turn one of the practice rooms in the music department into a soundproof recording hub. In the application, Robyn wrote, “Each semester, music students have a significant number of projects, applications, and auditions that require a recorded submission. Graded coursework or curriculum projects, honor choir/band/orchestra submissions, and college scholarship auditions are just a few of the examples we encounter. Currently, there is no soundproof space to collect a high quality, professional recording. It is disappointing after the hours of preparation spent on their submissions, that their entries are polluted with sounds from surrounding classes, instruments, announcements, and voices in the hallways. Being able to offer this environment to students while they record their projects will remove the stress and misplaced energy spent on worrying about environmental distractions and put that focus back on what is most important –process and performance. In turn, the confidence level and pride in their preparatory and performance efforts, as well as the quality of the submissions themselves, offer the students a higher rate of success, both personally and in a competitive sense.” This grant is funded in memory of Ruth Youngers, a longtime music educator in the Sioux Falls School District. Ruth passed away in August 2023, and her three daughters, Amanda, Amelia, and Anna, encouraged individuals to donate to the Education Foundation in her memory. Amanda, Amelia, and Anna also made a generous gift to our organization to support music education. Anna and her husband, Darin Kaihoi, represented the Youngers family at the grant presentation.