A Teacher’s view

Dr. Sharon T. Doyle

Woodland Heights Elementary School

A parent of a second grader recently stopped me in the hall and relayed an interesting story to me about her son’s musical education. It went something like this – She and her husband had bought tickets to a rock concert and simply told her two boys they would have a sitter on Friday night because they were attending a concert. Her son in turn inquired, “Orchestra or opera?” When she mentioned it was a rock concert, he replied, “Oh.” Her comment to me was that she was amazed and a little proud (I think) that in second grade, her son’s musical experience had led him to ask about more classical concerts as the concerts his parents of course should be attending.

This story reminds me of the strong influence that opportunities to hear and experience live music in all forms opens a world of possibilities to our children. The fact is that students in elementary school are as accepting of traditional classical music, as they are hip-hop and R&B. The distinction that must be made is that we take for granted that they know about all types equally. To many of my fourth grade students, attending the Link Up performance is their first live orchestra experience and for some their first live concert of any type. The students are mesmerized by the entire experience: the concert hall, the musicians, the screen, the conductor, and even the trip across town to an area some have never ventured. Too often, those of us living in a musical world are unaware that without these opportunities, too many never get this experience. Since being involved in the program, more of my students are continuing in music at the middle school level. We have an increase of students joining band and strings in fifth grade and more are continuing with their studies into the middle school.

My students work on parts of the program throughout the year learning about the music, composers, instruments, and becoming performers as partners with the orchestra. Excitement leads up to the day of the concert and upon returning back to school, students add Beethoven to their rock star list. On the last day of school, one student shared, that he only wished he could know more about Mozart before the year was over. While other teachers were packing boxes and taking out trash, our last day was spent doing one more internet search and listening to one last piece written by their new favorite composer. Music touches our students in very real and lasting ways and gives students a new conversation with parents and adults outside of school. The Link Up program provides the catalyst for continued study and allows students to realize that there is no substitute for the live performance.

Sharon Doyle leading the students during the February 2016 Link Up concert at Twichell Auditorium.

“Due to exposure by programs like Link Up, District 7 numbers continue to grow in terms of students joining orchestra and band. This is wonderful for D7 because students involved in orchestra and band have higher SAT scores than students who are not in arts education.”

Dr. Terry Pruitt

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