Sahuaro students are feeling less confident about leaving their instruments at school after finding out about several of them being stolen. Thieves target these items (mainly guitars and other easy-to-grab valuables) because they can be very expensive and sold for lots of money. Unfortunately, Sahuaro band, orchestra, and guitar often have to fund-raise to get the money they need to rent these instruments, so this money is being taken right from our fine arts budget. Also, many students that have a passion for music are restricted when an instrument is not available to them.  This is a very big deal for ensembles who need multiple people playing different things, and for the students who cannot afford instruments of their own.

Mr. Marrs, our orchestra teacher here at Sahuaro, informed me that some of the guitars that were stolen in the past year may have cost from 150 to 400 dollars each, but it isn’t only the money students lose: they lose the thing that they have a passion for. “Kids feel less safe about leaving their stuff,” Marrs says. Even with the cages locked, they still worry about their prized possessions being taken from them.

Mr. Marrs suggested a few solutions, such as always locking the doors and cages, and advising the students and teachers to keep their eyes out for anybody who doesn’t belong in the instrument rooms.

The best solution to this ongoing problem is definitely to take your instruments home with you, keeping your belongings out of the danger of sticky fingers. Larger instruments are harder to transport and less likely to be taken, although they should definitely be in a locked place at all times. I personally have had the experience of going to get my instrument and realizing it is gone: a silver piccolo that can cost over 1,500 dollars! It went missing from its case in the second quarter, and I have yet to get a new one. This is very important to people like me who use a TUSD-owned instrument, because I cannot afford my own piccolo. Also, most of these school instruments are not insured, so those that are taken are rarely replaced. I do advise other people who are in band, guitar, or orchestra to try to take their instruments home every day to save money and keep the music going at Sahuaro.