Missing Music in the Classroom

Kimberly Roark

Professor Russell

English 102

13 November 2006

In the Animas School District in Animas, New Mexico, there are approximately three

hundred students. Animas itself is a small town. According to the US Census Bureau, the

population in Animas in the year 2000 was a mere 1,063. The Animas schools are a

wonderful place to learn. Not only do I work there as an Educational Assistant, but my

daughter attends elementary school there as well. Class size is small and most teachers

employed there have obtained a Master’s Degree or better (“Animas School District”).

The Animas sports programs are very popular. This year the varsity football team played

in the District Championship and the girl’s varsity volleyball team participated in the

State Championship. There is only one thing missing in the district and that is a music

program. The students deserve the same opportunity to participate in a music program as

they do in the district’s successful sports programs.

Out of our three hundred students, approximately one hundred fifty make up grades

seventh through twelfth. Beginning in the seventh grade, students in Animas are able to

choose whether or not to participate in sports. Boys can choose football, basketball, and

track. Girls can choose volleyball, basketball, and track. As an employee at the school, I

have noticed that there is never a lack of participation on these teams. Each year, new

seventh graders look forward to finally being able to play. Most who choose one sport

will participate in all available to them. This may be due to the fact that in a rural

community such as Animas, there are few activities for the youth to enjoy. There

are no malls or fast food restaurants in Animas, New Mexico. There are no bowling

alleys, movie theatres or teen centers. We do have the occasional community dance.

However, as wonderful as the sports programs are, not all students are athletes. Perhaps

other options, such as band or choir, would benefit these other students. While living in

central and east Texas where football is popular, I found most schools there had at

least a high school marching band. While spending a year in southern Louisiana, I also

found that they had high school marching bands. In asking family and friends in various

states (Oklahoma, California, Georgia and Washington), their children also have the

option of participating in band. Having attended school in a much larger district in

El Paso, Texas, I participated in my school’s orchestra in grades fifth through twelfth. I

always assumed my own children would have the same wonderful opportunity.

Most sports involve team participation. I think most of us would agree that learning

team participation is an important part of life. After all, many jobs require that you

accomplish a single goal while working with other employees. Music also teaches

students to work together. In band, as well as choir, students each play their part in

producing a single harmonious sound as a team. As Warren Puffer Jones has pointed out,

when our great-grandparents wanted to hear music, they sometimes had to “make it

themselves” (42). To make music, people must come together. This is just one more

reason why our children should be able to participate in a music program today. As the

world is today, we need to come together. It has only been recently that one could acquire

the sound of music so easily. Through technology such as iPods, music can go with us

everywhere. To listen to music, it only takes one person with a stereo or player of some

sort. Although convenient, this is not a way for our children to learn teamwork. We can,

however, allow them to learn the work it took to make the music they listen to so easily.

Besides team participation, music can benefit a child’s education. The National

Association For Music Education has profiled high school students taking the SAT. They

have found that in 2001, students scored higher if they were part of a music program in

school than those students who were not (Petress 113). It takes only a small part of your

brain to listen to music, but it takes several parts of the brain to make music, and, in a

sense, making music is good exercise for the brain (Jones 42). In playing an instrument,

for instance, one must first read the music, make your body move to produce the sound

from the instrument, and listen to verify the results. You also need to maintain a steady

beat with fellow band or orchestra members. Professor Ken Petress of the University of

Maine states that “music is shown to be beneficial to students in four major categories:

success in society, success in school, success in developing intelligence, and success in

life”(112). Petress has concluded that not only does music teach the value of teamwork,

but also gives the student the experience of self-discipline, dedication, knowledge,

continuous improvement, self-confidence, humility, hard work, goal setting, and practice

(112-113). All of these things are beneficial to a student who is soon approaching a life

of independence.

Everyone would agree that anything that can help kids stay away from drugs

is something that should be included in school. Although after-school sport activities

can help kids stay away from drugs by occupying their free time, music has also been

known to help. The Texas Commission on Drugs and Alcohol Abuse has completed their

own study and reported that “secondary students who participated in band or orchestra

reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (alcohol, tobacco, [and]

illicit drugs)” (qtd. Petress 113).

Animas Superintendent Jerry Birdwell states the main reason we do not

have a music program is because it is hard to find a music teacher. According to

Birdwell, it is difficult to find a music major who can also teach another subject. It is not

as difficult to find a teacher to coach our sport teams. To coach, a teacher simply needs to

be certified as a coach and no degree is required. Music teachers must have some sort of

music education background. It is difficult for a small district like us to find these

talented teachers. Several teachers in Animas also attended Animas schools.

To attract other applicants who cannot appreciate the benefits of small town life or who

do not have family living here or close by is not an easy task. Perhaps the only

way to find a music teacher would be to find one within our community. Perhaps there is

a student right now that would make a wonderful music teacher. But how can

we produce these music teachers without first teaching music to the students? Birdwell

has a few ideas. First, it could be possible to have some sort of music class in our

Distance Learning Program which is fairly new to the district. Even a simple music

appreciation class could introduce students to music sounds they might not otherwise

hear in their present environment. We live in a community that varies in race and

religion. Located so close to the Mexican border, Animas has a significant Hispanic

population. Music is one language that has no barriers. As Jones states, music plays an

important role in “serving to unite a diverse group of people”(42).The second idea

Birdwell has is possibly dividing a music teacher’s services between districts. Perhaps the

nearby Deming or Lordsburg districts would be willing to participate in this type of

arrangement. I believe Birdwell has some wonderful ideas that need to be looked into

further, and perhaps the community of Animas should encourage him to do so.

In many cases, music is the first to be cut from a school’s curriculum due to expenses.

Instruments and the upkeep of such can cost a school a lot of money. However, Animas

schools right now have the equipment and space for a band. Band uniforms and sheet

music could possibly be the only new expenses to the district. At one time, the school

district had over six-hundred students before a change in the economy took place due to

lack of jobs. Phelps Dodge had a refinery open and the employees and their families

occupied the nearby town of Playas, New Mexico which was within our district.

However, this refinery closed in 1999 taking with it almost half our students. At the time,

our high school had a marching band which is why we still have the equipment. It would

be nice to have the equipment and room put to good use again.

Since we do have so few students at present, I asked Birdwell if lack of participation

in something such as a band or choir would affect the district’s decision to include music

in the curriculum. He stated that it has been his experience that even in a small school

such as Animas, there is never a problem with lack of participation from the students. I

believe this to be true as well. My own daughter takes piano lessons from a neighbor who

teaches many children of all ages in our community. Occasionally we will have

volunteers who organize and help the students with an annual Christmas program at the

school which consists mostly of singing. I know as an employee at the school that there is

never a lack of support or participation from the students. They are all eager to perform.

The entire community will have to support the need in the Animas School District if

we are to give the students the same opportunity to participate in music as they have in

sport activities. The superintendent has two wonderful ideas already. Perhaps there are

teachers, parents, or even students with additional ideas. Through perseverance, the

community can and should convince and support the district to somehow bring

music back into the curriculum. It will benefit the students in more ways than one as well

as the community they live in.

Works Cited

Birdwell, Jerry. Personal interview. 18 October 2006.

Jones, Warren Puffer. “Music, the Brain, and Education.” Montessori Life 17.3 (2005):

40-45

Petress, Ken. “The Importance of Music Education.” Education 126.1 (2005): 112-115

Richardson, Brenda. Animas School District . 11 November 2006

<http://www.animask12.net >

United States. US CENSUS BUREAU. 2 December 2006 <http://www.census.gov>