Guest Opinion: Music plays important role in education

Recently I attended the Montana School Board Association’s annual conference. One of the sessions that caught my attention was “Educating the Whole Child Through the Arts – Music Programs in Serious Crisis.”

Having little knowledge of this crisis, I encouraged other board members from our district to attend along with me.

Representatives on the session’s panel spanned administrators and educations from the University of Montana, Montana State University, high schools and the Office of Public Instruction. They expressed concern with the shortage of music instructors, rigorous educational requirements (five-year degree) to become a music teacher and the value of music in a student’s curriculum.

The time commitment is considerable for a music instructor with the expectation of numerous concerts, extracurricular activities such as pep band and the select choir, as well as competitions on the state and national level. I never realized their season never ends.

As your trustee, I feel it is my responsibility to inform the public of this crisis; your support may be needed in the future. When you have the opportunity, please say thank you to our music teachers, students and all educators alike for what they give to our community.

I have included some comments from seventh- and eighth-grade students during a recent concert at the Memorial Center.

“Why is music important in your life?”

• “Music lifts up your soul and releases it.”

• “Music is what moves everyone and without it, life would be pointless.”

• “Music is important to people’s lives because it makes things better when things aren’t going right in the world.”

• “Music, without it there would be silence, less joy and darker times.”

• “Music is important to the world as a whole because it brings us together.”

• “Life without music would be boring … no background music for movies, and life would sound dull.”

• “Music gives you something to listen to on long drives.”

• “Music is important to the world because it helps people feel better and can give them hope.”

Said much better than I ever could.

(Gary Huntsberger is a trustee on the Libby Board of Education).