Music in Our Schools!

For everybody out there who has been involved with music: I've played the oboe for almost 9 years now, and the best way to keep kids interested in music is to show your own love for music to them. Whether you played the clarinet 20 years ago or you're a professional french horn player, call up your local school district and GET INVOLVED! Music programs are suffering- and there is no excuse for that. I have been blessed that I was raised in a school with a superintendent who loved the arts, so our art program and our music program were very strong, and the college I now attend is the exact same way. Today I challenge you to watch the movie "Mr. Holland's Opus" and then call your school's band director- ask if you can come in and watch a band rehearsal. Talk to the kids about their instruments- find a couple kids who play the same instruments you did and talk to them, become their friend. Attend their concerts, check up on them. That support and encouragement will keep them going. Music is our future- I know I will never put my oboe down, not as long as there is breath in my lungs to keep on going!