First Avenue Middle School’s two rock bands (beginning and advanced) raised $1,150.50 for Arcadia Child Health Council at a standing room only performance Dec. 2 in the school’s recently renovated auditorium.
“We wanted to provide for some resources for those in our own community who are less fortunate,” said Mike Danielson, who has been teaching a variety of music classes at the school for more than 20 years. Danielson, known by students as “Mr. D”, who was unanimously chosen as California’s nominee to the National Education Association Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence in 2009, said of the money raised through ticket sales, “We are happy that our music can reach beyond our walls.”
The Arcadia Child Health Council was organized during the Depression in 1937 to meet the health needs of Arcadia’s children from limited-income families. It continues to offer this help today, assisting with access to needed health care, on a round-the-clock basis, to children who live within or attend school in the Arcadia Unified School District. The Council helps fulfill medical, dental, optical, pharmaceutical, and counseling needs. The Arcadia PTAs, community service clubs and private donations provide financial support for the all-volunteer Arcadia Child Health Council. Additionally, many local doctors, dentists, and therapists donate or offer their services at substantially lower rates.