A closet, a box and a lifetime of memories - Forum focus: arts awareness and advocacy

American Music Teacher, Feb-March, 2004 by Brian Shepard

A few weeks ago I decided to tackle the project of cleaning my closet. It's something I actually do rather frequently. Each time is exciting for the first few minutes, and then I become disinterested, which is why I have to clean my closet so often.

I started shoveling through the clutter and unearthed an old box--not labeled of course. I opened the lid half curious and half afraid of what I would find. As I pulled the lid aside and discarded it in the growing pile of stuff, I realized this was going to be a trip down memory lane. The box was filled with old photos, programs and videos of concerts, musicals and recitals I had been in.

The first thing I found was a picture of me dressed in my Scottish kilt for my role in the high school production of Brigadoon. I'm sure that performance brought a tear to many an eye--probably for more than one reason. I rifled through some of the other photos. There were pictures of my friends and me when we were in Hello Dolly, Oklahoma and show choir and solo and ensemble contests. I paused for a moment to reflect on the times after the concerts when we would go out for ice cream, and sit at the football games and watch the marching band play as they crossed the field.

Then I thought of what the students at my high school are doing now. Budget cutbacks have forced students to pay to play football and be in the marching band. The musicals are a thing of the past, and the show choir can't afford to travel anywhere to perform or compete. The buildings are showing their age, and the instruments are embarrassing to take out of their cases. The mighty Baldwin in the auditorium hasn't been tuned in ages, and the school morale is at an all-time low.

Suddenly my trip down memory lane took a turn for the unpleasant. I then began to think of all the schools around the nation facing the same situation. Many have even less funding than my own school. How did music in the schools take such a back seat? I began to think of a whole host of reasons this was happening and began to blame administration and the economy. Then I stopped myself and thought, "What can MTNA do to be proactive for music advocacy?"

As music professionals, it is our job to promote music in all facets of life, not just in studios. No musician is well rounded without work in an ensemble, and the social skills developed by participating in school music programs cannot be substituted in any other way. Music builds confidence and has been directly linked to developing reasoning skills and improved test scores.

That is why MTNA has formed a partnership with SupportMusic.com. This initiative is designed to help parents and students build strong cases to gain support for their music programs. SupportMusic.com offers fundraising resources and step-by-step instructions to develop an advocacy campaign to influence school boards and legislators. This quick, easy-to-use tool gives communities the opportunity to be proactive when school systems are forced to cut music programs.

As an association, it is our responsibility to carry out our mission to advance the value of music study and music making to society and to support the professionalism of music teachers. Part of this responsibility is supporting our public school music-teaching colleagues and providing a well-rounded education for the students whose lives we influence. Music in the studio, as well as the public school classroom, develops and trains the music teachers of the future. We are concerned about developing ourselves professionally, but how concerned are we about developing our profession?

Can you imagine a life without music, a life without fond memories? Probably not--so let's use our influence as music teaching experts to be the voices that save music programs.

To find out how you can help your community, log on to Supportmusic.com at www.supportmusic.com and find out what you can do to fill a box with memories to last a lifetime.

2004 MTNA National Conference Session

On Monday, March 29, 2:15-3:15 P.M., Millie Eben, Gayla Foster and Judy Plagge will present "Music Advocacy is a Contact Sport." The session will discuss the importance of becoming an effective advocate for music within the community. Ideas, projects and resources for teachers and local associations will be provided during the session.

The Arts Advocacy & Awareness Forum meeting will be held Monday, March 29, 9:15-10:15 A.M.

MTNA's new director of marketing and public relations, Brian Shepard, is an active advocate for music in the community. In this Arts Awareness and Advocacy Forum Focus, Brian shares some personal reflections on advocacy, especially in relation to MTNA's partnership with SupportMusic.com.