Music In Our Schools Month

March is Music in Our Schools Month!

For years we have known about the joy of listening to and making music, but only recently have we clearly understood the lifelong benefits of music education for every student.  Music unlocks the creative potential of the human mind; it opens the pathway to educational excellence and catapults human thinking to a new level of understanding.  Quality in music learning transfers to quality in all learning.  Numerous studies confirm a consistent correlation between substantive music education and student achievement in other academic subjects, not to mention the musical skills gained through music instruction.

Goals 2000: Educate America Act, makes the arts, by federal law, a core subject in our schools.  We are fortunate in Burlington Township to be in an environment where music is seen as a vital part of our educational community.

No other language can replicate music; it has no substitute, no replacement and no alternative.  Although it has often been compared to everything from the debate club to an athletic team, it is far more.  Music is an art form.  It allows the individual to understand and appreciate the world from a sensitive and emotional perspective.  A school without a prosperous music program is incomplete.

Richard W. Riley, former United States Secretary of Education, stated, "I believe arts education in music, theater, dance and the visual arts is one of the most creative ways we have to find the gold that is buried just beneath the surface.  They [children] have an enthusiasm for life, a spark for creativity, and vivid imaginations that need training...training that prepares them to become confident young men and women."

Music is a source of possibilities; it opens new horizons; it supports imagination, appreciation and sensitivity; it adds a new dimension to life.