One cause sorely in need of volunteer advocates strikes close to the heart of every music lover: music education in American schools. Despite the plethora of scientific evidence demonstrating the benefits of music education, music and arts classes are usually the first to be eliminated as school budgets shrink—even as the need for music and music-enriched curricula grows in our media-drenched, economically constrained society.

If you are concerned by this issue, check out the NAMM Foundation’s SupportMusic Coalition Web site for the latest news, the most recent relevant research, and information on how to make a difference in your neighborhood schools.

As well-known education expert Howard Gardner wrote in 1997, “Music is as vital nourishment for the mind as school lunches are for the body,” both as an educational tool and as an academic pursuit in its own right. And as Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor and former chairman of the Education Commission of the States, stated, “If we don’t provide an arts education, at least an arts opportunity for every child, we are leaving a lot of children behind…. [L]eaving the arts out is beyond neglect and is virtual abuse of a child.”

Want to know more? Let one of our trained team members help you.

Home

Professional

Link 58