Advocacy News From Our President-Elect, Lisa Vartanian

Lisa Vartanian Paramus School District lvartanian@paramusschools.org

Dear Colleagues,

It's hard to believe the year is half over. By now, your winter concerts are fond memories, and you are gearing up for the second half of the year. As I reflect on the past six months serving as the NJMEA president-elect, the word "grateful" comes to mind. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with an outstanding NJMEA Board and meet amazing music educators around the state and nation. I am also grateful to learn from music partners such as Save the Music, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Arts Ed NJ, and Arts Ed Newark as they tirelessly work to create new and innovative music opportunities for our urban school districts.

This month's report features arts advocacy news, an overview of the NAfME National Convention topics, a recap of the fall NJSO side-by-side concert, and information on how to connect with NJSMA Urban/Rural Committee members.

The 2019 New Jersey Arts Education Annual Summary Report from Arts Ed NOW confirmed what a lot of us already knew: music and arts education is thriving in New Jersey! In September, Paramus High School had the honor of welcoming Governor Phil Murphy to celebrate National Arts in Education Week. During his visit, Governor Murphy got an up-close look at the school's arts programming and facilities. Following the tour, he remarked that New Jersey has reached a milestone of 100% of our public schools offering arts programs. "And, by the way," he added proudly, "when I say we've achieved 100% universal access to arts programs, we are the only state in the U.S. to do that."

Joining Governor Murphy was Robert Morrison, director of Arts Ed NJ, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting arts education in New Jersey. Morrison noted that participation in arts education among students has climbed from 65% in 2006 to 81% today. "That means 250,000 more students are engaged in the arts this year than a decade ago," said Morrison, calling the gains "incredible." He said, however, “Our work remains unfinished. To improve quality, we must address inequities that are present in our less affluent schools. This is an equity issue of great importance.” He said, “In a world where imagination, creativity and innovation are sculpting our future- ensuring we provide the inspiration for these skills for all students must be our goal.”

Governor Murphy made note of the fact that a recent ranking of public schools by Education Week put New Jersey ahead of all other states. The Governor recalled his reaction to learning about New Jersey's #1 ranking. "There was no doubt in my mind that our arts programs are a major contributor to our students' success," he said. It was a great day for music and arts education in New Jersey, and a sign of even greater days to come! Information about the event taken from https://www.njtvonline. org/ Michael Aron, Chief Political Correspondent.

In November, the National Association for Music Education held its annual leadership conference. Music supervisors and directors from all over the country attended. The days were full of outstanding professional development focusing on the most critical and relevant topics in music education today, such as culturally and linguistically responsive music education, creativity and critical thinking in music education, and social and emotional learning in the arts.

The following are just a few standout sessions from the conference:

Tony Beatrice, executive director for the arts with Boston Public Schools, has spearheaded an initiative entitled, "The Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Music Education Decolonization Project." Among the project's most significant successes thus far is the decision to honor various cultures through the purchase of nontraditional instruments for schools such as Gamelan, Samba, and Taiko. Other best practices he shared were the creation of a research team to focus on composer diversity, and new opportunities for Hip-Hop culture to permeate throughout the curriculum.

Anne Fennel, K-12 music program manager at San Diego Unified School District, is truly an inspiration. During her presentation, Anne discussed how the arts teach children invaluable skill sets, including critical, creative, and innovative thinking. She drew a direct line from arts education to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report, which identifies trends across 20 economies in 12 industry sectors. The report suggests that “between 2018 and 2022, 75 million current job roles may be displaced by machines and algorithms. But 133 million new jobs will emerge during that same period, and these emerging jobs will require new skills. In fact, by 2022, 42% of required workplace skills will have changed. The emerging jobs for 2022 will require two primary sets of skills: technological competency, such as programming and systems analysis; and distinctly "human" skills that the arts provide to our children, such as emotional intelligence, creativity, and innovative and critical thinking.” (https://eab.com/insights/daily-briefing/workplace/thetop-10-emerging-skills-for-2022/ ) In other words, the arts are not only a vital part of a well-rounded education; they are critical to our students’ future success no matter what career or life path they follow. Anne emphasized that it is our job as music educators to intentionally teach the "how and why" of creativity and critical thinking, both of which are integrated into the National Standards.

Dr. Scott Edgar presented several outstanding workshops during the NAfME Conference. He focused on ways music educators can contribute to social and emotional learning in the classroom in an authentic and musical way. I asked Dr. Edgar and Bob Morrison from Arts Ed NJ to write an article on social and emotional learning in music, especially for you, our NJMEA members. The article, "Music Education and Social-Emotional Learning: The Heart of Teaching Music in Your Classroom" is embedded in this edition of TEMPO magazine. In addition, I am excited to announce that Dr. Edgar will be speaking about his transformative work at the NJMEA Convention in February. Please be sure to check out his presentation.

For further research on social and emotional learning, I encourage you to read Dr. Edgar’s book entitled, Music Education and Social Emotional Learning, and explore the work of Dr. Maurice J. Elias, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Rutgers University. Dr. Elias, along with Bob Morrison and Alison Scott-Williams of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, facilitated an outstanding NAFME workshop in November entitled, "Social Emotional Learning and the Arts: Exploring Connections and Implications."

• Getting Serious About SECD: https://secdlab.org/why-secd • Twitter: @SECDLab • Edutopia Blog: www.edutopia.org/profile/maurice-j-elias • SECD Lab Resources: https://www.secdlab.org/all-resources

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On Saturday, November 16, NJMEA member and leader of the NJSMA Urban Liaison Committee, Katy Brodhead Cullen, sponsored the first Urban/Rural Music Educators Meet-Up. The goal of the meeting was to help build a network of urban/rural music educators from across the state and to share resources and best practices that can positively impact children in New Jersey. We had a great turnout! For more information about future Urban/Rural Music Educators meetings, please contact Katy Cullen at NJSMA Urban Liaison (urban@njsma. com).

On Tuesday, November 12, I had the opportunity to see students from Clifton, Elizabeth, Newark, Orange, and Passaic County participate in the NJSO Concert for Young People entitled, "Fall Fireworks," and engage in a one-hour onstage side-by-side rehearsal with members of the NJSO. In preparation for the side-by-side concert, students learned Respighi's “Ancient Airs and Dances” and Williams' “Harry Potter.” NJSO is eager to replicate this model to serve other New Jersey urban districts. The NJSO will pilot a similar collaboration immediately following the May 26 Concert for Young People at NJPAC for up to 55 of the top 5th-8th grade students in the Newark Public Schools that received the Save the Music Foundation's instrument grants. If you want further details on the program, please visit https://www.njsymphony.org/education

As I close, I want to encourage you to seek out your local performing arts centers and search what type of programs they offer, such as professional development sessions for educators. Centers also offer regular opportunities for your students, in the form of open rehearsals, young people's concerts, and side-by-side concerts. Performing arts centers, such as our partners at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, want to serve their communities by offering high-quality programming for you and your students at affordable pricing.

If you know of any best practice examples in music education that are going on in the state, please contact me at lvartanian@paramusschools.org so we can feature them in upcoming articles. Thank you, teachers, as always, for your excellent work! Each day, YOU make a difference in the lives of our young musicians!