Grant Donley

Thomas

UWRT 1104

8 May 2017

Reflection #2

After reading the comments posted in my rough draft, I have been able to

organize my essay and find the articles needed to tie my paper together. I kept the first

part of my essay with the background of my experience in marching band. I believe that

gives a good perspective on what the arts are like and a first hand account of how arts

programs are fading. My articles used in my thesis give examples of how much the arts

programs are declining and I believe they give good reasoning to revive the programs.

This paper has reminded me of how important the arts are and has rekindled my love

for them.

Save the Music

The musical and theatrical arts have major historical backgrounds reaching as far

as when the human race was created. Music is a language to be shared and preserved

by the world. Unfortunately in recent years, arts programs with in grade schools have

been on the decline. This event has grown to the point where schools are cutting music

and theater programs completely.

I first witnessed this dramatic decline of students participating in the arts my

sophomore year of high school at Wakefield High School. The year before, my high

school marching band program had a strong 120 wind players with almost 40 color

guard members. The band was ranked in the 4A category. For those who are not
familiar with marching band sizes, the ranking measured from 1A to 4A. 1A bands

typically had less than 50 members where 4A bands ranged from 150 to 200 members.

My sophomore year marching band dropped down from 160 members all

together to less than 100 members. The band had a total of 50 wind players and 30

color guard members. There are many factors that play into the reason why the band

decreased. Just before my freshman year the program went through a director change

and yet another one the summer after that. Not only did the leadership change, but

knew schools in the area opened up and drew from the pole of students that would have

attended my school. These examples only scratched the surface of why the band

decreased in size. The horrible truth to the decline was the lack of interest in music and

the arts from rising freshman and some returning students.

Not only was there a lack of interest in the arts, schools began to not have

enough teachers to teach these classes. The article, Arts and Creativity Squeezed out

of Schools, from BBC News reviews the decrease in teachers since 2010. A report

mentioned in the article verifies that the number of arts teachers in schools had fallen

up to 11%... drama teacher levels had fallen 8%... (BBC). The insufficient number of

teachers for the arts leave unqualified teachers to teach these subjects. Not only are

there not enough teachers, there is a lack of funding for arts programs as well.

Extracurricular programs within the arts are too expensive for students without

the proper income. BBC goes on to state The research also suggested that the cost of

young people taking part in some extracurricular activities was putting them out of reach

for low-income families (BBC). This issue arose within the band program I personally

was apart of. Every member had to pay the program $600 to participate in marching
band. Although the band director did everything to try and lower the payment, some

students could not pay the money. Many students were only able to stay in the program

for a year. In order to keep some of our players, the students put together a donation

box to help pay for the students that did not have the money. The band was not the only

program that had funding issues. The theater program was poorly funded as well. There

needs to be a new reason for the arts programs to be funded properly and for the

rehiring of proper teachers. Newly founded research in music along with the benefits it

can provide may help revive the arts.

The next generation of artists of all kinds must be targeted. This can start with

the children. Amy Ellis Nutt dives into a study that claims Music Lessons Spur

Emotional and Behavioral Growth in Children. Nutt got her informations from a study by

the University of Vermont College Medicine, lead by James Hudziak. In his research,

Hudziak analyzed the brain scans of 232 healthy children ages six to 18 specifically

looking at brain development in children who play a musical instrument (Nutt). The

children that were trained on an instrument had greater organization in attention skills,

anxiety management and emotional control. Music is like exercise. The brain is capable

of being trained and music is the trainer. Knowing that music is greatly beneficial to

children can lead to more students within the arts programs. Children are the future of

the world and will be the next inventors, mathematicians, surgeons, and leaders. The

arts programs help mold these children and set them on the path for greatness.

While music helps spur growth in children, there are even more problems that

music is solving. Jessica Hullinger created a list of 11 Problems Music Can Solve. This

list ranges from dementia patients, where music is used to help trigger thoughts and
memories, to music helping plants grow tall. Medically, music is used many times.

Hullinger writes about the effects music has on babies who were born to early. She

states that playing music to preemies reduce their pain levels and encouraged better

feeding habits. (Hullinger). Music is shown to help with the effects of brain damage.

Patients might suffer from a long-term movement or speech disability. Hullinger

mentions researchers use music to stimulate the areas of the brain that control these

two functions. (Hullinger).

Music had become more than just entertainment in our society. Breakthroughs in

research with music are saving lives. It is these kind of thinks that should be the reason

the arts stay in school. Peter Greene states in his article Stop Defending Music

Education There are so many reasons for music education. (Greene). He believes that

instead saying music helps with testing or makes you do better in other classes

(Greene), there are better reasons to keep musical education. Music is everywhere in

our world and should be more appreciated for that reason. Greene defends music

because music is awesome in ways that no other field is awesome. (Greene). If the

benefits of music are not enough, then taking an arts class because it is all around us

every day should be.

The arts truly are around us in every aspect of our lives. Some would say that

sports have nothing to do with music or theater, but a new sport is here and is growing

fast. A tv show called The Doctors aired a special report on The Fastest Growing Youth

Activity in America. This sport is called Drum and Bugle Corps. While contact sports like

Football or Hockey include the dangers of head and other bodily injuries, Drum and

Bugle Corps offers a safe but more physically, mentally, and creatively challenging
sport. (TheDoctors). This new sport includes aspects from the musical and theatrical

arts. Every year Drum Corps International (DCI) hosts a world championship at Lucas

Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. Corps from all over the United States

compete and millions of fans watch world wide.

The arts are important in our lives. They provide entertainment and in some

cases, life saving remedies. The arts have even entered into the field of sports. Yet with

all these amazing feets, the arts have declined in schools. It is important to keep the

arts in schools and preserve what humanity has had for so long.

Work Cited

Nutt, Amy Ellis. "Music Lessons Spur Emotional and Behavioral Growth in

Children, New Study Says." The Washington Post. WP Company, 07 Jan. 2015. Web.

22 Mar. 2017.
 "Arts and Creativity 'squeezed out of Schools'." BBC News. BBC, 18 Feb. 2015.

Web. 10 May 2017.

"Drs. Special Report: The Fastest Growing Youth Activity..." The Doctors. N.p.,

2015. Web. 10 May 2017.

Hullinger, Jessica. "11 Problems Music Can Solve." Mental Floss. N.p., 11 May

2012. Web. 10 May 2017.

Greene, Peter. "Stop 'Defending' Music Education." The Huffington Post.

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 June 2015. Web. 12 May 2017.

Rough Draft

Grant Donley

Thomas

UWRT 1104

21 April 2017

What is Happening to the Arts within Schools?

Reflection #1
 Although my rough draft is incomplete, writing this has let me brainstorm my topic. I

have been able to layout how my inquiry will progress. I am still unclear on how I want to

incorporate the benefits of music and the arts. I feel like my essay has gone a little off topic at

the start and i did not state the true reason for this inquiry. I hope that further editing will tie my

essay together and that the peer reviews will bring me back on track.

The musical and theatrical arts have major historical backgrounds reaching as far

as when the human race was created. Music is a language to be shared and preserved

by the world. Unfortunately in recent years, arts programs with in grade schools have

been on the decline. This event has grown to the point where schools are cutting music

and theater programs completely. (Tie in the benefits of music and the arts to the

different aspects of human life.)

I first witnessed this dramatic decline of students participating in the arts my

sophomore year of high school. The year before, my high school marching band

program had a strong 120 wind players with almost 40 color guard members. The band

was ranked in the 4A category. For those who are not familiar with marching band sizes,

the ranking measured from 1A to 4A. 1A bands typically had less than 50 members

where 4A bands ranged from 150 to 200 members.

My sophomore year marching band dropped down from 160 members all

together to fewer than 100 members. The band had a total of 50 wind players and 30

color guard members. There are many factors that play into the reason why the band

decreased. Just before my freshman year the program went through a director change

and yet another one the summer after that. Not only did the leadership change, but

knew schools in the area opened up and drew from the poll of students that would have

attended my school. These examples only scratched the surface of why the band
 decreased in size. The horrible truth to the decline was the lack of interest in music and

the arts from rising freshman and some returning students.

This lack of interest has started to show throughout the country. More and more

schools systems are cutting funding for or completely dropping arts programs. (Sorry for

the abrupt ending I am still trying to create my plan of attack for the essay.)

- Finish discussing the decline of interest and wrap up that topic.

- Move into how music is beneficial (still unclear of how to incorporate)
- Tie in my annotated bibs

1st paragraph - establish the problem

1st part - elaborate on the problem with personal experience
2nd part - discuss why music is beneficial
3rd part - add in other side of the argument???
4th part - wrap up with how to fix problem possibly