For many years, students in Northborough have had the incredible opportunity to participate in the excellent music ensembles at Melican Middle School, and then continue on to the award winning program at Algonquin Regional High School.  Recently, Mr. Brent Ferguson, one of the instrumental music teachers at Melican, announced that he would be retiring after thirty one years. At Melican, he taught the seventh and eighth grade bands in addition to the jazz ensemble for seventh and eighth graders.  It has come to our attention however that as a result of budget cuts, Mr Ferguson will not be fully replaced. This means that the jazz band will instead be run by a part-time private music teacher and the seventh and eighth grade bands will be combined and taught by Mr. David Daquil, who will also continue to direct the sixth grade band and small ensembles. This will have huge ripples across the district, and put the Northborough students at a huge disadvantage compared to their Southborough counterparts. There will be less individualized instruction and less community involvement. More importantly, the music program is a creative outlet for hundreds of students, including myself. It allowed me to find something I loved doing and that I had a passion for. It would be a tragedy to lose the high level of music education in Northborough. As students and parents of the Northborough and Algonquin music departments, we can attest to the significant impact these programs had and continue to have on our lives. Music has given us a sense of community and a safe space to be ourselves. Please sign this petition to request that a faculty member be hired to take on the same workload Mr. Ferguson did for thirty one years, and ensure that the next generation of students have the same opportunities past students had under his direction.