Oregon City Middle School Teacher Wins in Tune Monthly Magazine's $40,000 Extreme Music Room Makeover

Gardiner Middle School band, choir and art teacher Cheryl Rizzo thought that the call she received from InTune Magazine was another subscription telemarketing call. As it turns out, the Sunday evening call to her home was let her know her essay had won a $40,000 Extreme Music Room Makeover for her school.

"The difference it will make in many students lives is immeasurable. The opportunity to be able to play on a working instrument after struggling with old instruments that have to be constantly repaired is good for the sound and self esteem of the band," says Rizzo. "Coming into a room with state of the art equipment makes learning fun and exciting for students." Each year, In Tune Magazine awards one teacher nationwide a $40,000+ music room makeover. As this year's prize, Rizzo's classroom will receive equipment from sponsors Yamaha, Wenger, Buffett Crampon, Peavey, Pearl, Zildjian, Pro-Mark, Roland, Notion and Shure. And, if any classroom is worthy of the makeover, it's Rizzo's - as the Oregon City School District is still struggling to recover from years of limited funding for music programs.

"The problem remains that Gardiner Middle School is still duct taping and rubber-banding our instruments together and trying to teach our talented kids how to play on frankenstruments (we have to piece them together like Frankenstein)," Rizzo wrote in her essay. "My goal is to prepare students for high school and to instill a love of music for the rest of their lives."

In Tune Magazine will present the equipment to Rizzo and her students October 20, 2009 at 8:30AM at Gardiner Middle School 180 Ethel St., Oregon City, OR 97045. The instrument unveiling will include comments from In Tune Monthly publisher, representatives from Yamaha and Wenger, Rizzo and media photo opportunities and interviews.

In Tune Monthly is "the young musician's textbook," distributed in the form of a magazine that blends coverage of popular musical artists and themes with the traditional music curriculum. In Tune helps music teachers create relevant and contemporary lessons about music creation, music technology, music production, the music industries, innovative musical technique, higher musical education and a wide array of musical genres.

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