Students deserve full-time teacher

Last night our family attended the high school and middle school Orchestra Festival at John Hersey High School. Our daughter is a freshman at Hersey and a member of the Concert Orchestra. We've been attending these annual concerts for three years, and as we sat there and listened to the performances of different schools, we were amazed at their progress from year to year.

This kind of improvement demonstrates how dedicated these students are to their art and the importance of dedicated and effective leadership.

Leading an orchestra and running a music program effectively is not a one- or a two-hour-a-day job. It is not just teaching a class. It is a full-time career. A music director is a person trained to run an effective music program on a full-time basis. He is a MUSICIAN.

Talking to our daughter and her fellow musicians, regarding the upcoming changes in the Fine Arts Department at Hersey, we truly feel the anxiety and distress these students are experiencing. They have been building their future on a foundation that is being torn apart.

Most of these kids are planning on pursuing music beyond high school. Music has been part of their lives. They are building their future on music. How can they do it if they don't have the proper leadership and training? We can see and hear how much improvement our daughter has made just this year by attending orchestra classes every day and practicing diligently every night. The only reason for it is the encouragement and the training she is receiving.

As some students build their future on math and science and sports, some students build their future on music. All students' interests should be respected equally.

Hersey should be proud of its Fine Arts program and its accomplishments. It should be proud of its Symphony Orchestra and its leadership. It should do whatever it can to nourish and strengthen it. Without a full-time dedicated orchestra director, Hersey might as well say good-bye to one of its shining stars: a talented orchestra that is beyond high school level.

Haleh Sabet

Arlington Heights