To Whom it May Concern,
Thank you for taking the time to hear why I believe we
should fight to keep the Music Program thriving in the schools. Music is
important to all students, staff, and community people; therefore it should not
be cut due to budget issues.
Music has the power
to encourage and empower students physically, emotionally, spiritually,
socially, and intellectually. Musical learning and performance teaches students
to have self-discipline, dedication, teamwork, knowledge, self-confidence, and
humility (Petress, 2005 pg. 112); all of which
are imperative skills for students to learn to be a contributing member to
society and the classroom. Ken Petress (2005) states, " that music takes self
discipline because one needs to learn to practice, take instruction, and
criticism, and to perform whether solo or as a member; dedication, musicians
learn to take the necessary time to learn and perform music; teamwork,
musicians have to work as a team for their performance to be appreciated and
valued; knowledge, studying music demands that one learn some level of theory,
history, and cultural sensitivity; and confidence, being able to perform
musically to entertain audiences and to understand and follow a composers
intentions". All of these skills that
a Music Education offers students, carries out into their abilities to
build in the general education classroom.
Music improves students brain development and enhances
skills in all other areas. By making music we are strengthening the human
brain. Making music targets the sensory and perpetual systems: auditory,
visual, tactile, and kinesthetic, the cognitive: symbolic, linguistic, and
reading, planning movements: fine and gross muscle action and coordination,
feedback and evaluation of actions, learning memory, and motivation (pleasure)
(Weinberger, 1998, pg. 38). By learning music, students have the opportunity to
engage all senses at once. Also, studies have shown that when students receive
instruction in music listening, reading scores increased compared to those who
did not receive training (Weinberger, 1998, pg. 38).
If these facts are not enough to convince the board the we
should not cut funding for the Music Programs in our schools, let us not forget
the obvious. Students love music. A world without music is dull and unexciting.
Music surrounds these children in their everyday lives and rather than removing
it from schools, we should be embracing it. Lastly, MUSIC IS FUN!
Thank you for your time,
Tanya
Petress, K. (2005). The Importance of Music Education. Music
Education, 126(1), 112-117. Retrieved from
http://fac.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/FAC.teachers.ab.ca/Advocacy Articles/6.pdf
Weinberger, N. (1998). The Music in Our Minds. Educational
Leadership.
With our limited funds the money that we would allocate to the music program would be better spend on resources our students need to help raise their academic scores and hopefully past the standardize testes they need to graduate. While i do understand to some extent the benefits of having music in our school, our decision as to what program is to receive funding is based on what is more beneficial to our students and unfortunately music is not a a priority.
ReplyDeleteAudrey