Mock School Board Presentation

Good morning. My name is Leila Hanley and I am one of the instrumental music

teachers here at the Peeps school district. I have been teaching in this school district for

many years now, and I can confidently say that fine arts education is an important pillar

in every student’s educational journey.

The American Psychiatric Association explains that art holds the power to

“reduce conflicts and distress … foster self-esteem, and build emotional resilience and

social skills.” (https://www.youthconnectionscoalition.org/the-benefits-of-fine-arts-for-

mental-health/) Participants are given an outlet through which they can express

themselves in a healthy and constructive way. In the music classroom, this may look

like giving a song or piece of music a new meaning that is personal, or feeling the

preexisting emotions and meanings that the composer intended for it. It can also boost

student self-esteem as they see themselves progress in skill levels. One student

testimony comes from 5th grade student Alondra, through savethemusic.org. Alondra

stated that she used to be really shy, but when she came into band, she “let herself go

with music and developed [herself] into more of a player [because] the sound of it just

makes [her]... happy.” (https://www.savethemusic.org/blog/stories/it-builds-self-esteem/)

Alondra’s story is of millions just like it.

Aside from socioemotional benefits, let’s consider the cognitive benefits of music.

Dr. John Dani, the chair of Neuroscience at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine,

highlights that playing an instrument may be one of the best ways to keep the brain

healthy. He states that playing an instrument engages every major part of the central
nervous system by tapping into both the right and left sides of the brain. Students

develop their gross and fine motor skills as a result of playing instruments that require

their hands to be doing different things – engaging the peripheral nervous system. On

top of that, the brain’s executive function – which plans and makes decisions – comes

into play as a musician plays one part but keeps a focus on what comes next. Coupled

with visual, auditory, and emotional sensory input, playing an instrument becomes what

Dr. Dani calls a total “workout” for the brain. (https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-

blog/2017/january/playing-an-instrument-better-for-your-brain-than-just-listening)

Not only are our music programs benefiting students as individuals, but they are

benefiting our school as a whole. According to the Children’s Music Workshop, schools

with music programs have an estimated 90.2% graduation rate and 93.9% attendance

rate compared to schools without music education, which average 72.9% graduation

and 84.9% attendance.

(https://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/factsandstatistics/#:~:text=Schools

%20with%20music%20programs%20have,in%20schools%20without%20music

%20programs.)

With all of this in mind, I implore you to reconsider the movement to cut the arts

all together. Instead, I am proposing some temporary cuts, including cutting elective arts

classes like art appreciation and the “What’s on Your Playlist?” class, as well as one of

the four choral groups, and moving the beginning band from starting in 4th grade to

starting in 5th grade. In addition, we can apply for grants that support arts in schools,

such as the D’Addario foundation grant, which emphasizes the necessity of keeping

music in schools. This grant averages to about $2500. Another grant is a DeLucia
Award through the Mockingbird Foundation. This award is $1000 and further supports

music education in schools. These can help minimize some of our own program costs

for the time being so that the money can be reallocated to some of our other programs. I

also propose some fundraisers for the entire school that my bands can help with,

including a Swingin’ Spaghetti dinner, featuring music by the Fighting Bunnies Jazz

band, as well as car washes, and play-a-thons. We can supplement these by

negotiating the property tax increase when offset by these cuts. Finally, I would like to

donate several of my own personal instruments to the school, including two clarinets, a

cornet, and a trombone.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sources:

● https://www.youthconnectionscoalition.org/the-benefits-of-fine-arts-for-mental-

health/

● https://www.savethemusic.org/blog/stories/it-builds-self-esteem/

● https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-blog/2017/january/playing-an-

instrument-better-for-your-brain-than-just-listening

● https://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/factsandstatistics/

#:~:text=Schools%20with%20music%20programs%20have,in%20schools

%20without%20music%20programs.