rAdvocacyColumn ichardLong AdvocacyChair

MusicinOurschools Month—takeAdvantage oftheOpportunity!

we all look for ways to increase the visibility of our music programs. There’s a great opportunity coming up in March, 2002, and it’s easier than you think.

MENC has offically desig nated March for the national observance of Music in Our Schools Month (MIOSM). In 2002, schools and communities throughout the country and overseas will celebrate MIOSM with concerts and other activities based on the theme “Music…Pass It On!” The centerpiece of MIOSM will be “The World’s Largest Concert” to be presented on Thursday, March 14, 2002, from 1:00 to 1:30 pm (EST). This concert, a sing-along program, will be broadcast both on PBS and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Network overseas.

Closer to home, there is a wide variety of activities you might consider to bring attention to your music classes. Here are some suggestions:

• Schedule a special performance at your school. Invite local media and important members of the community. Ask guest artists and local adult ensembles to join you.

• Develop a community calendar of music education events in your school district and get press releases to the local media. Do this early so you can get the attention you and your students deserve.

• Involve students in ways that go beyond their performances. Have them list the ways that music is a part of their lives. Have them interview parents and other family members and create family trees centered around involvement with music.

• In addition to your standard fare of concerts, seek out new audiences. Try a nearby retirement center, a town council meeting, or an afternoon performance at the city library.

• Develop new partnerships with local arts agencies and arts organizations to spotlight the value of music education in the public schools.

• Get local businesses involved. Work with them to invent new methods of advocacy and support that will benefit your efforts and the talents of your students.

• Let your local state senator and representative know what you’re doing. Make sure to include them in new and creative ways. Have them narrate at a concert. Give them an opportunity they simply cannot refuse.

• Take a look at upcoming issues of MENC’s journals for a wide of variety of ideas, including information about how you and your students can be a part of the “World’s Largest Concert.”

We don’t get too many opportunities to advocate for our classes like MIOSM. Make some room in your schedule now and do some planning. Look at the materials from MENC. Everything’s there. It’s easy; it’s fun; and, it’s needed.