American Schools Need Music Education

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American Schools Need Music Education

For years, I have studied music. I cannot picture my life without it. In my schooling, I participated in various orchestras and choirs, learning eight different instruments along the way. It was my high school music program that instilled a passion for music inside me. Not only did I enjoy attending my music classes in high school, but I enjoyed all my classes, a fact that many of my peers cannot claim. Learning how to think as a musician has also taught me how to think as a mathematician, a writer, a scholar, and as a future educator.

Most people are not aware of the advantages children have in after taking classes in the arts. These classes teach kids to be more tolerant and open, allow them to express themselves creatively, promote individuality, reinforce self-confidence, and enhance overall academic performance. The arts can help troubled youth find an improved attitude towards school, providing a substitute to delinquent behavior. Several organizations are determined to putting the arts back into school systems. A group called Americans for the Arts is one of these associations.

Americans for the Arts is a non-profit organization with a purpose of integrating more money into the arts, developing communities through the arts, and providing arts education for every child. To achieve its goals, this association partners with local, state, and nation-wide arts organizations, along with government agencies, business leaders, benefactors, to provide professional development opportunities for community arts leaders, extensive arts industry research, a content-rich website, and an annual national convention. Through national and local outreach...

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...ity known for its music program. One day, I will teach choir to high school students just as I was taught for four years. In my experience, music programs have been things that schools are known for. Without them, school would not be the same

Websites like these enable public schools and communities to participate in fun activities without concern for money complications and school board conflicts. Without them, and without funding from those who dearly love music, we may lose the arts completely, along with the happiness and joy that the arts bring to our everyday lives.

Works Cited

www.amc-music.com. 8 Oct. 2003. American music Council.

http://www.amc-music.com/>

artsusa.org. 8 Oct. 2003. Americans for the Arts.

http://artsusa.org>

www.vh1.com. 8 Oct. 2003. VH1 Save the Music Foundation

http://www.vh1.com/partners/save_the_music/home.html>

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