Help Mr. Tolley Research Island Music and Culture

My name is Shawn Tolley, and I am an elementary music teacher. I will be traveling this summer to Guam, Saipan, and Hawaii to study music, culture, and language to bring back and share with my students. As a part of this trip, I will be meeting with experts in traditional music and culture of Native Hawaiians and the CHamoru people. My school has a large population of Marshallese students that I want to celebrate in music and culture. Unfortunately, the Marshall Islands are not currently open to visitors due to COVID-19 restrictions, but community members have informed me that Guam and Saipan are good places to learn what I can. One of my goals is to create authentic cultural music experiences, and this trip has already helped me learn more about my students' cultures since they are so excited for me to go.

I was given a fellowship from Fund for Teachers that covered most of my costs, but not all of them. I am looking for support to purchase equipment to make and store video and audio recordings, including a dedicated large-capacity SD card and drive to create and store high-quality recordings for later use and to share with students. Most importantly, the cost of travel and stay used up the most of my fellowship, and I need extra support to ensure I can provide honorariums to the people who share their culture with me.