Band Kids Play on Pencils Before Instruments March In

Friday, 17 September 2010 | by Pat's Picks

I’d love to hear what their first rehearsal sounded like. After the Sacramento Bee ran a story about a middle school band practicing on pencils, the school has received dozens of instruments from concerned readers. The donations have come from all over the country after national media outlets picked up the story last week. The Bee says the band’s leader was shocked to find an old pack of cigarettes in the case of a trumpet donated by a woman whose son had played the instrument back when he was in high school.