Nestled a few miles on each side of the  US 81/24 Junction, in Cloud County, Kansas, there is a little school district with a little band that could.

The Southern Cloud band was recently awarded an $11,960.00 Dane G. Hanson Grant to purchase new instruments.

Southern Cloud school district consists of approximately 120 students. Each community of Glasco and Miltonvale, consist of approximately 500 people. Southern Cloud schools offer many elective classes. The high school bands consist of 20 members divided between Miltonvale and Glasco.

Even though the district has a diverse selection of classes including shop, woods, art, music and band, they do not have access to proper resources to help.

Band director David Wiggins explained, “It is difficult for our students to have the same experiences as city kids. The majority of our instrument inventory is 30-40 years old. Many of our instruments are donated from local music enthusiasts. The Dane Hanson Foundation understands that students in small communities, given the proper resources, can achieve at any level. We only have 20 kids in band. They worked hard last year and deserve new stuff. This will be a game changer!”

Instruments purchased are a tuba, xylophone, bass clarinet, piccolos and marching percussion.

Other support for the Southern Cloud bands is attained through private donations, fundraisers and instrument donations.

This grant was made possible by the strong support of the Southern Cloud students, parents, teachers, administrators and community members. They made this dream a reality.