Being an avid music obsessee, I have to watch my music video’s in the morning as I get ready for work. So I flop between MTV, VH1 and CMT (especially being they are only a channel away from each other in my area, which is nice ha). So I am familiar with the Save the Music program that VH1 has implemented for years now, but you know how that saying goes about not truly knowing about something until it hits at home? It finally hit at home…
Last week, I was skimming the local newspaper when two articles caught my attention. On one page was an article stating that Poudre School District is thinking about making cuts in the PE, Music and Art programs. This struck home because not only is this MY hometown and my old school district, BUT my old high school was known and has won several awards for their music program for as long as I can remember! What ads to this shocking idea for me was the article on the very next page that stated that the GRAMMY FOUNDATION (I repeat, grammy foundation) awarded Rocky Mountain High School's music program (my old high school) with a 2011 Signature Schools Enterprise Award for their impressive music department. Luckily, that award came with a donation to the program and will help update some much needed equipment, but it baffles me that they can even think about cutting a program like that when it clearly is exceptional even despite the already implemented cuts it's received as it is.
Not only does PE, Music and Art give the children an outlet of creativity, but it allows them a break from all the other studies they are taking, and each program has been known to bring in some revenue to the district as well; Whether it be sports games, music concerts or art exhibits, each one has had it's hand at helping. And I can speak first hand on what these programs do to/for a student, because my senior year I probably could have graduated first quarter (being we were in the block system and only had 4 classes a quarter) because I had 2 choirs, 1 academic class and one period off the entire year! Not only that, but was told by my beloved choir directors that if I wanted to miss one of the two choirs they would count me as being in both classes... I didn't miss a single class. The sad thing is, I don't think that people realize the benefits of such classes. There have been research conducted that PROVES the benefits of music and the impact it has on a human being's memory, but that's a whole other blog hahaha!
So, the first thing that these articles made me think of, once I got past my emotions on the topic was, how do I help? How do I save my programs and help the students keep what is rightfully theres!? I began to research. Upon my researching for save the music programs, I came across a local non-profit coffee house in my town called “Everyday Joes”. Being a town native, I would have thought I had heard about this place before… the name sounded familiar but perhaps that’s because of how it’s been used before? But a non-profit coffee house in support of music!? I must check this out!
It's true, they are non-profit, they have a music performance every week and if the act charges admission then they only take 10% of admission to donate to a charity, however if the act does the performance based on a suggested donation then the act can keep the entire donation. Everyday Joe's supports the community and relationships amongst people in the community and makes every different kind of person feel welcome when they enter their walls. 40 out of the 42 employees are all volunteers as well, so it's been said that the atmosphere in the shop is wonderful because they're there by choice. I contacted the executive director today in hopes of throwing a couple events to raise some money for a local charity as well as hopefully raise some money for the school district and to gain some more knowledge on the organization. Maybe I'll see how that goes and try to do this every year?
If you would like to see how you can become apart of saving the music in your community, do a google search like I did and also check out VH1's Save The Music, two of the best ways of getting information about your community and the programs they may currently offer. Otherwise, you can see what they lack and what you may try to implement because of it! Good luck and let's keep music alive!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment