By
Scott Thomas Anderson
Can the creative impulse survive in our public schools? According to members of the Amador Student Music Fund, it must for the good of local children.
The group is hoping a program they've recently engineered will be a huge step in getting the community involved in the long-term goal of cherishing music as a force to enrich the lives of the youth.
The ASMF was created to counter-balance the state's abandonment of music programs. Members of this nonprofit group claim that state budget cuts, which reached new heights last year, have "nearly eliminated music from the Amador County Unified School District." Working under the umbrella of the Amador Community Foundation, the ASMF seeks to expose young students to different genres of music through field trips, as well as create hands-on educational events for kids with musical instruments, assist under-privileged students in renting instruments for their music classes at school and generally support local music instructors and programs in the on-going challenges they face.
"We know these programs are in jeopardy," said co-founder Lynnette Lipp. "We want to do our part to make sure they stay around to add to the quality of life for our students."
While the current budget crisis has taken a major toll on school music programs, there is little debate among experts about the benefits of such programs to students. A wealth of studies now indicate that young people who are exposed to music in school are better academically, as well as more balanced and healthy individuals.
It's uncertain why this is, though data suggests that music training appears to correlate with the development of superior verbal memory skills. According to the Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Report, music programs also appear to have a relationship with good health and decisions, as that commission found that students who participate in band or orchestra reported the lowest use of substances. The arts in general have equivalent attributes. The College Entrance Examination Board confirms that students involved with the arts continue to out-perform their non-artistic rivals on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Findings also show that individuals with a mastery in one of the arts are just as likely to have higher earnings in American life as those who study business and economics.
"I think it's been proven now that learning about music gives kids a greater level of self-esteem and a better sense of awareness," observed Lipp. "One of the reasons these programs are so important is because we know that students who play instruments become strong analytic thinkers."
Lipp and ASMF co-founder Michael Smith have been doing some hard thinking of their own on how to earn funds in a way that's not disruptive for those who are already contributing to other worthy causes. Their new concept is a $5 a month donation club. "We know people are being invited to fund-raising events all year long" Lipp said, "and that these events run anywhere between $15 and $75 to attend. For some that can be a lot to put up all at once - especially over and over. The $5 a month club is based on an idea that's been successful in many other types of communities. It allows you to make a small but consistent donation that doesn't make a huge dent in your monthly budget but still, over the course of a year, goes a long way in helping our music programs."
Lipp added that those who are interested in joining the club don't have to feel like their commitment is written in stone. "It's going to be a more laid-back approach. People can agree to the $5 a-month, but when something comes up and they can't afford it on any given month, that's fine and they don't need to feel bad about it. What's important is trying to help."
For Smith, who's a private music teacher and the owner of Vision Quest Recording Studio, the need to take action on behalf of the students is now. "Regrettably, this problem is only going to get worse," Smith said. "After seeing what happened last March when one of our only school music teachers nearly lost his job, it's opened up my eyes to the threat that music could vanish from our kids' education all together. We have to make sure that doesn't happen. Our kids deserve the same opportunities we had."
To join the Amador Student Music Fund's $5 a month program, write to Music Fund Administrators, P.O. Box 219, Jackson, 95642 or visit www.amadorstudentmusicfund.org.
