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In an era of budget shortfalls and standardization-mania, many school districts have abandoned music and the arts. As public demand for academic rigor has increased, schools throughout the country have emphasized the core disciplines at the expense of elective courses. Not so Henrico County. “In Henrico County, we believe in a well-balanced school curriculum in which music and the arts are included side by side with other important subjects such as mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies. The arts relate to everything that is taught, so by developing and supporting a strong arts program, you create a strong school,” said Rick Tinsley, Henrico’s curriculum specialist for music education.
The payoffs of a strong music program are striking. In an analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on more than 25,000 secondary-school students, researchers at UCLA found that students who report consistent high levels of involvement in instrumental music over the middle and high school years show “significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12.” Studies of SAT scores confirm this finding, not only for mathematics, but language skills. Students with course
work or experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT. In a 2001 study by the College Board, students in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation. On a personal level, there also seems to be a payoff for students. In one study in Texas, secondary students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all illicit substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs). Importantly, the benefits of a music education hold true for all students, regardless of socio-economic status.
The investment in the arts also nets a sizable return for the community. In addition to the obvious cultural benefits of a strong arts community, the arts create jobs, increase the local tax base, and spur growth in related businesses while improving the overall quality of life for residents. On a national level, nonprofit arts institutions and organizations generate an estimated $37 billion in economic activity and return $3.4 billion in federal income taxes to the U.S. Treasury each year, according to the American Arts Alliance.
In Henrico County, every student has a chance to reap the rewards a music education offers. At the elementary level every student takes music classes at least once a week. “The elementary school teachers do a wonderful job creating an atmosphere for learning music for our students through 5th grade,” said Veronica Jackson, Orchestra teacher at Byrd Middle School and Godwin High School. As students move into middle school, different music options are open to them: chorus, band, and orchestra. By high school, music education is an elective option for interested students, and each school has a broad array of its own unique offerings. For example, students at Godwin High School can enroll in Advanced Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, String Orchestra, Treble Selected Chorus, Mixed Chorus, Show Choir, or be a member of small vocal ensembles like Godwin’s award winning Barbershop Quartets or Madrigal group. Whatever the course, Godwin choral director Sherri Matthews says that the purpose of a good music education program is not only that student’s have the opportunity to perform, but that they “develop a love of music that will last them their entire life.” She hopes to “mold them into intelligent consumers of music and give them experiences that they most likely will never have again in their lives, such as performing [Carl Orff’s] Carmina Burana.”
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