Music to my ears.

The music programs here in Pasco are one of our most celebrated accomplishments.  We have great music! Great students, great teachers, great opportunities, great variety. Great. Great. Great.

Our music programs are so awesome, we literally throw parades just to listen to them!  ;)

In the not too distant past our music programs stunk. They were almost non-existent. Thanks to some positive decisions at the district level and some heroic efforts in the classroom, Pasco music is the envy of many other districts throughout the state.

But just as great things don't happen by accident, things don't stay great by accident either.

Our music programs are in trouble. Not huge trouble. Not immediate trouble. But trouble none the less. And if we want to keep music as one of the things that PSD is great at, then there is work that needs to be done right now to keep it that way.

So here's the problem.  Middle school music is the heart of our music success. It is when students transition from being just kids with instruments to being true musicians. This transition lays the foundation for our amazing high school programs.

This year things are changing. Normally a middle school teacher has three years to whip kids into shape, but with the transition of sixth grade back to elementary school, that window of opportunity has shrunk.  Middle school teachers now only have two years in which to work three years worth of magic. Sixth graders who previously had a multitude of musical opportunities and daily exposure to things as varied as jazz band, guitar, mariachi, and world drumming now are lucky if they have the option to do basic band, orchestra, or choir once a week.

To make matters worse, we have increasingly inconsistent quality of music programs in our elementary schools.  Our elementary music programs have always varied in intensity (based on interest, teacher quality, and principal preference and support) sending kids to middle school with a broad range of abilities. Sixth grade was typically the year used to catch kids up and create a more consistent educational opportunity district wide. Now that middle schools don't start until seventh grade,many students are essentially falling a year behind.

A major contributor to this problem is the way music is implemented in our various schools. Some schools are offering band and orchestra during the school day, while some offer it before school. The time of day a program is offered has a tremendous effect on which students will participate. Many kids won't do before school programs because their parents can't bring them. Others won't do during school programs because they don't want to miss out on other fun school activities.  Some of our schools offer band and orchestra five days a week. Some only offer it one day a week (what kind of skills do you think a child will gain with only one day a week of instruction?) leaving beginner students foundering.  Imagine the difference between a sixth grader who was receiving 40 minutes of music instruction in middle school every day of the week vs. a six grader who is now getting 30 minutes of music once a week at the elementary school. We certainly can't expect the same level of achievement when so much less effort is being given.

As Pasco continues to grow and add more schools, this problem will only get worse. The more schools we have, the more varied the quality of elementary music will be.  This isn't anyone's fault. This isn't intentional. This just is. Over crowding and under-staffing continue to compound this problem.

Fortunately it doesn't have to be the death of music in Pasco. For every problem there is a solution. It may be different for each building, but it does exist. There is always a solution. we just need to find it. Why are some elementary programs more successful? Because people expect them to be.   At some point someone (perhaps a principal or a music teacher) made the decision that they were going to have a great music program, so they do. They found the source of the problem and then found a solution. If we want to have consistently successful music programs, we need to expect it. We need to expect it, demand it, and make it happen.  If you are a parent with a child who is not getting the quality music instruction you expect, go talk to the teacher and the principal. and make it happen. If you are a teacher and struggling to get enough time to teach, talk to your administrator, talk to your parents, work together to find a solution. It's worth fighting for.

In a district where so many things are going wrong, we need to hang on to what's going right.  So ask questions, get involved, find out what your school is doing and what you can do to help.  Don't wait for it to become a problem. Be proactive. If your children are two young for elementary school band, talk to the teacher about it anyway. Let them know that it's a priority to you.  If you don't speak up now before it affects your children, it may be too late when it does. With a little bit of effort, Pasco music will continue to be something to sing about!