Mr. Ron Smith (far left) & Ms. Paulette Johnson (second from the left) presented MW music teacher Lisa Verchereau (second in from the right) and the district music supervisor Deb Keough with a $500 donation.

June 3, 2010 - Mr. Ron Smith and Ms. Paulette Johnson, who belong to the Community Reformed Church of Colonie, were given a challenge by their minister. They were asked to step forward one Sunday and make a leap of faith not knowing what the challenge would be. Ron and Paulette both stepped forward and were each given a $100 bill and were asked by their minister to grow it and donate it to a worthwhile cause. Mr. Smith thought about who would most benefit from his donation. As a member of the Town of Colonie Band, he knew Ms. Lisa Verchereau and was aware that she was teaching band to the students at Maplewood. He also knew that some of these students were renting while some students had leased their instruments with the option to buy them.

Mr. Smith, along with Ms. Johnson, grew their one hundred dollars to $500.00 and knowing how it would benefit the students of the Maplewood Band program, donated it to help one of our students purchase an instrument and to help to defray the rental costs for other students. Their generosity will go a long way in helping the students at Maplewood enjoy the benefits of learning a musical instrument.