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Music education is at the forefront in School District 203

"If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week," said English scientist Charles Darwin. Moreover, learning to play an instrument or to sing makes life even more full. Naperville School District 203 pays great attention to the musical development of its students. It supports both bands and orchestras in its elementary, middle and high schools introducing children to the beautiful world of music. One of many events where orchestra and band students were able to demonstrate their skills was a concert that took place at Ellsworth Elementary School on Friday, December 8.

As a parent of one of the students at that school (I am not a representative of School District 203), I feel proud and happy watching my child grow and develop his skills, including aesthetic skills. Imagine that only three months ago you didn't know how to hold a bow and now, after just a few weeks of practicing, you perform in a concert! And it doesn't matter that the songs that you play are short and fairly simple. The main thing is that you see and hear the results of your work and gain confidence.

Ellsworth Elementary organizes both band and orchestra lessons that are open to all fourth and fifth grade students. The participants meet weekly for a thirty minute small group lesson where they develop their instrumental skills through lesson book studies, scales, rhythmic drills and sheet music. The full orchestra and the band each meet once a week for thirty five minutes to practice a variety of sheet music that gives the students the opportunity to build ensemble skills such as listening, rhythmic accuracy and balance.

Learning to play an instrument is not easy, and especially at the beginning children have to memorize a lot of information and are introduced to multiple playing techniques. Each child has to gain confidence playing individually, in small groups and in the full orchestra or band. The role of music instructors is important at each step of the music learning process.

Ellsworth Elementary is lucky to have two great music instructors who put all their heart and soul into introducing students to the beautiful world of music. Passionate about their jobs, Ms. Megan Lathan, Ellsworth Orchestra Director, and Mrs. Kay Moore, Ellsworth Band Director, know that only patience, kindness and love of music can help them attract children to the study of music at school and get them to practice playing their instruments at home.

Ms. Megan Lathan is currently a fourth-eighth grade orchestra director in Naperville School District 203. She attended the University of Michigan, where she received her bachelor's degree in music education. Ms. Lathan later went on to study at the University of Hartford's Hartt School of Music, where she received her master's degree in viola performance. After receiving her master's, Ms. Lathan began her current role as the orchestra director at Washington Junior High, and Ellsworth and Prairie Elementary Schools. Ms. Lathan is thrilled to be a member of District 203 and has had a wonderful time working with all of her orchestra students.

"Preparing for the fourth-fifth grade orchestra demonstration concert was a really exciting time for both the students and myself," said Ms. Lathan. "It was a great way for us to show all of the musical growth that has happened since the beginning of the school year. The fourth graders were particularly excited, as they had only begun learning how to play their instruments in September. For only seeing the fourth and fifth grade students in lessons and orchestra rehearsal once a week, they have come so far! Their hard work and dedication shined in their first performance, as they demonstrated all of the new techniques we have been working on in class."

The fourth grade orchestra students started the concert by plucking a piece on just one string, and by the end of the concert they were able to demonstrate their use of the bow on pieces that incorporated the use of two different strings. The fifth grade students demonstrated their knowledge of different bow techniques, such as slurring, in which the students played two notes in the same bow direction, their work on pieces that included two-part harmony, and some other musical techniques that they learned through fun styles of music, such as jazz, Latin, and a few recognizable holiday tunes.

The band performed a variety of songs including pieces from their Essential Elements method book, which teaches the students the fundamental notes and rhythms for their specific instrument. Fifth grade students that are in their second year of band were featured on the holiday song "Deck the Halls" which was more challenging because it had a wider range of notes and more complex rhythms. Each song at that concert was introduced by one of the students to give the audience the history of the selection.

"This is my fifteenth year as fourth and fifth grade band director at Ellsworth and Beebe Elementary Schools and my twenty second year of public school teaching," said Mrs. Kay Moore, Ellsworth Band Director. "While I have worked with students from preschool through high school, I most enjoy teaching beginning instrumentalists because it is rewarding to see them go from not knowing how to put their instrument together to performing complex melodies and rhythms."

Interestingly, many studies and researches prove that musical education positively affects brain development in children. "Our findings suggest that music training during childhood, even for a period as brief as two years, can accelerate brain development and sound processing," noted Assal Habibi, Senior Research Associate at University of Southern California - Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. "We believe that this may benefit language acquisition in children given that developing language and reading skills engage similar brain areas. This can particularly benefit at-risk children in low socioeconomic status neighborhoods who experience more difficulties with language development."

Although everyone understands that music training is very beneficial, I know from my personal experience that learning to play an instrument can be very frustrating. It requires a lot of practice, patience and hard work, and even then the result might be not as good as expected. When several months ago my son told me that he chose to play violin, I warned him that it will be adventurous, but not easy. I never played this instrument, but I knew that my degree in teaching music in elementary and middle school would help me assist him during home practices. The rest of it was up to him - he needed to make time in his busy schedule for practices, take the violin into his hands and actually start practicing.

I know that the only way to help your child to practice playing an instrument is to have at least some basic musical knowledge. However, I would like to calm down those parents who never learned to play an instrument. The good news is that you can study with your child! Besides the fact that together you will enjoy learning to play all these songs, you will also be able to better understand what your child is doing, control how well your child is practicing, and even help him or her to practice. I encourage parents participate in their kids' practicing by actually studying music along with them!

It is important to note that not every school district pays such great attention to music education as Naperville School District 203. Also, not everywhere can you see children march in parades and participate in school band and orchestra concerts on a regular basis. According to the US Department of Education data from 2011, "over two million children (and growing) each year are not exposed to a music program in school". According to Give a Note Foundation, "Thirty states have had cuts made in their schools music and arts programs at every level from K-12 and up through college." This sad news makes us, parents, value even more that our school district provides our children with such a great opportunity to learn to play musical instruments and actually perform.

Encourage your children to practice their instruments, practice with them, attend your children's concerts and watch them march in parades, and you will get more confident, intelligent and happy children with brighter and healthier future.

Natalia Dagenhart

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