Quality Music Education: An Enrichment for a LIFETIME!
by Craig Chissus
September 15, 2007
KALKASKA PUBLIC SCHOOL BANDS
A Quality Music Education:
An Enrichment for a LIFETIME!
At Kalkaska Schools not only do we “guide student ambition”, we also believe every child deserves a complete education and the opportunity to SHINE! Music plays an integral part of our schools’ core academic curriculum and we take pride in the successes of its fine performing ensembles. A music education at KPS not only provides opportunities for musical success, but also success in the multi-faceted pursuits of a global society, whether the endeavors are musical or personal.
Tomorrow’s employers will be looking for the characteristics common in music class from our future leaders. Your child’s ability to achieve goals and work with others will signal his or her potential for success in life. Music offers these opportunities to every child, every day at the highest level. Participation in music provides children with essential life skills.
Music fosters:
• Higher order thinking skills (analysis, synthesis and evaluation)
• Improved critical thinking
• Problem solving and decision making
• Interpretation and understanding of complex symbols
• Multiple intelligences
• Imagination and judgment
Success is not measured by what we start, but rather by what we complete. The important qualities of tenacity and persistence establish habits for positive, productive living. These attributes can be found in other endeavors. MUSIC does not make these optional, but a fundamental necessity from the first note ever played. Excellence is not a personal preference; it is a requirement. A well-trained musician tackles life with knowledge of “what it takes to get there” and the wisdom of “what it brings to life”.
Mike Huckabee, Governor of Arkansas (April 2006) “I think I could make the case to any Chamber of Commerce group, to any business group, to any group interested in the future economic viability of the United States, that an investment in arts education is valid and valuable. But I would be somehow missing the point if I didn't also say that there is a tremendous value and validity in an arts education simply because without the arts, this would be an incredibly boring world in which to live.” Art For Art's Sake.
Kalkaska Middle School and/or High School Bands have participated at the State Band and Orchestra Festivals, performed and toured Chicago, Disney World/ Epcot and Niagara Falls. As KPS Bands reach for excellence they depend upon the active support, encouragement at home and attendance at performances by their best audience...parents! For a calendar of events, pictures and more, go to kpschools.com.and click on BAND.
Check out these Music Advocacy Links & More!:
(A great 1st site to check out!)
The National Association For Music Education
The Kennedy Center, The Arts Edge
How The ARTS Benefit Student Achievement
(24 pg's How the ARTS Benefit Student Achievement!)
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(Amazing & affordable technology for home practice)
(Important information on the Michigan Merit Curriculum and the ARTS...get the facts here)
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March 12, 2003—According to a new nationwide survey conducted by the Gallup organization, 95 percent of Americans believe that music is a key component in a child’s well-rounded education. In fact, more than three quarters of those surveyed feel schools should mandate music education.
Despite American’s clear support for music education and participation, budget cuts and shifting priorities have placed those programs in more danger than ever. Already, up to 28 million American students do not receive an adequate music education, and cuts in education funding are either pending or have been enacted in more than half the states nationwide. Ironically, these cuts come at a time when the importance of music education is better understood than ever before.
