BOOSTER CLUB MEETING!!

Tuesday, Aug 25th 2009

5pm-7pm at the Excelsior Academy

All Band, Orchestra, and Chorus parents are invited.  We are kicking off our first EAMC Booster Club meeting on Tuesday, August 25th.  Please bring lots of fresh ideas and energy.  We have a lot to accomplish this year and really need your talents.

MEETING!!

Tuesday, Aug 18th 2009

5pm-7pm at the Excelsior Academy

We will be having our Parent-Student open house for the instrumental program.  The meeting is for all 6th through 8th grade students and their parents, who have an interest in participating in the program (band and orchestra).  We will have a short presentation by the music teacher, a presentation by local music stores, an instrument fitting session for the students, and a question and answer session with the music teacher. 

-if there are any parents who would like to volunteer and supply refreshments for the meeting, please contact Robert Grogan at rgrogan81@yahoo.com

Why Choose Music?

The short answer is, "to prepare our children to be competitive in the 21st century work place."  Here are some facts supporting this.

The Benefits to the Brain:  Cognitive Development

·         Students in high-quality school music education programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of community.

·         Results From The Elementary School Study

o       Students in top-quality music programs scored 22% better in English and 20% better in mathematics than students in deficient music programs.

o       These academic differences were fairly consistent across geographic regions.

o       Students at the four elementary schools with high-quality music programs scored better than students participating in programs considered to be of lower quality.

·         Results From The Middle Schools Study

o       Students in top-quality instrumental programs scored 19% higher in English than students in schools without a music program, and 32% higher in English than students in a deficient choral program.

o       Students in top-quality instrumental programs scored 17% higher in mathematics than children in schools without a music program, and 33% higher in mathematics than students in a deficient choral program.

o       Students at schools with excellent music programs had higher English test scores across the country than students in schools with low-quality music programs; this was also true when considering mathematics.

o       Students in all regions with lower-quality instrumental programs scored higher in English and mathematics than students who had no music at all.

Journal for Research in Music Education, June 2007; Dr. Christopher Johnson, Jenny Memmott

The Benefits to Students:  Personal and Academic Success

·         Students consistently involved in orchestra or band during their middle and high school years performed better in math at grade 12. The results were even more pronounced when comparing students from low-income families. Those who were involved in orchestra or band were more than twice as likely to perform at the highest levels in math as their peers who were not involved in music.

From Catterall, James S., Richard Chapleau, and John Iwanaga (2002), “Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: Extending an Analysis of General Associations and Introducing the Special Cases of Intensive Involvement in Music and Theatre Arts.” In R. Deasy (Ed.), Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student Achievement and Social Development, Washington, DC: AEP.

·         Students at risk of not successfully completing their high school educations cite their participation in the arts as reasons for staying in school. Factors related to the arts that positively affected the motivation of these students included a supportive environment that promotes constructive acceptance of criticism and one where it is safe to take risks.

 From The Role of the Fine and Performing Arts in High School Dropout Prevention, 2002; Barry, N., J. Taylor, and K. Walls

·         Arts participation and SAT scores co-vary—that is, they tend to increase linearly: the more arts classes, the higher the scores. This relationship is illustrated in the 2005 results shown below. Notably, students who took four years of arts coursework outperformed their peers who had one half-year or less of arts coursework by 58 points on the verbal portion and 38 points on the math portion of the SAT.

Source: 2005 College-Bound Seniors: Total Group Profile Report, The College Board, 2005

Thank you for your support of our
Music Program