A multimillion-dollar bequest in the memory of Elizabeth A. Brooks to the Santa Maria-Bonita School District will help foster a new generation of instrumental musicians.
“We’re very excited about this and what this means long term for our kids and their access to instrumental music,” Interim Superintendent Matt Beecher said, adding that he has been awestruck by the gift.
Brooks, a talented musician, played in the Junior National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., according to Beecher.
“She also excelled in other instruments like the piano to express her broad passion for music and performance,” Beecher said.
Brooks further studied flute in New York and at the Suzuki Music Institute in Japan.
She worked in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving in Santa Maria in 2004, playing in the Allan Hancock College Concert Band and singing in her church choir.
Brooks often attended the Battle of the Bands at Ethel Pope Auditorium, leading her parents to make the donation to the instrumental music program in the name of their daughter.
“It was their appreciation for Santa Maria that made them decide to make sure this contribution stayed local right here in Santa Maria and to honor the memory of their daughter and her love for instrumental music,” Beecher said.
The donation, 20,818 shares of Apple stock, will be cashed out soon after the district accesses it.
“I don’t intend to speculate. I don’t intend to put hope and optimism toward that choice. It’s going to be very mechanical,” Beecher said.
At Wednesday’s stock price above $176 a share, the gift amounts to roughly $3.6 million.
On Wednesday night, the board unanimously approved a resolution to accept the gift and establish the Elizabeth A. Brooks Music Fund.
Plans call for putting the funds in an account to ensure the money goes toward instrumental music programs in perpetuity.
Beecher said district officials hope to extend the unique gift to benefit students “for as close to forever as possible.”
Board members said they were overwhelmed and appreciative of the gift.
“It’s probably the most gracious and greatest gift I’ve seen of this nature in a public setting like ours,” board member John Hollinshead said. “We’re not a college, we don’t have deep-pocketed alumni or any of that kind of stuff, so the generosity is just incredible.
“I want to personally thank the Brooks family, not only for their thinking of the children of this community but entrusting us to do right by those kids.”
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.