OCR Text |
Show Schoolers. and V7 Home g j Dr. Daryl J. AAcCarty Executive Secretary Utoh Educotion Association Even though I do well to distinguish between rock and Rachmaninoff, I have a great respect for the value of music mus-ic in schools. In recent months the Chicago Chi-cago Board of Education eliminated el-iminated some music programs pro-grams from schools there. It was an unpopular move. Parents and children marched through the city's streets in protest. I'm convinced that Utah parents feel just as strongly strong-ly about music in their schools. Every year, there's a traditional closing for the Utah Education Association Convention. It's the Grand Festival Concert. Scores of Utah's most accomplished high school singers, orchestral orches-tral performers and band members do their thing for a standing room only audience audi-ence at the Salt Lake Tabernacle. Tab-ernacle. This is the event which proves that students don't have to be athletes to earn the designation "All-Stater." livery performer in the Grand Festi val Concert is a member of the All -State Band, Chorus or Orchestra. All that musical excellence excel-lence didn't just happen. Many of those talented students stu-dents began playing musical instruments or singing with groups in school during the years when their baby teeth were still falline out. I say that parents need to be proud of their children. I see that kind of pride often of-ten in the eyes of a father or mother watching a son or daughter drawing musical notes from a violin or flute. Sometimes the fun of music mus-ic classes stimulate students to do bette r work in other studies. "There is music in all children," says Dr. Emma D. Sheehy, professor of music mus-ic at Columbia University. "All we adults have to do is allow it to come out." There would be a great emptiness in life if it weren't for music. I believe we owe it to our children to "allow it to come out," to put music mus-ic in their lives at home--and even to tolerate those fast,, loud rhythms the younger youn-ger generation finds so appealing. ap-pealing. If little Brent gets an op, portunity to play a musical instrument, it might be one of the most important trails in life he ever travels. What about your home, is it the kind that allows music to "come out of your children?" |