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Oregonian Article: Reporting on October 29th School Board Business Meeting
Oregonian Article
Beaverton School Board continues research on naming stadium after soldier
Testimony of Beaverton Friends of Music member Fred Sautter at October 29th School Board Business Meeting
Fred Sautter is a parent from Raleigh Park district and in touch with Tim Morrison. During his testimony, Fred played a recording of the title piece from the original sound track of the film “Born on the 4th of July,” on which the trumpet solo was performed by Tim Morrison, a 1974 Graduate of BHS. Tim is in our lives daily. He performs trumpet for the theme music on “Nightly News with Brian Williams” and in most films with orchestra since 1997.
Tim is both anxious for music in the Beaverton Schools and will enjoy helping where he can. Tim’s statement: “One of the bigger picture things I loved about my experience at BHS was the fact that 4 of the 6 classes I took as a junior and senior were music classes. Great preparation for the NEC years and the many years as a professional musician that followed! Between the concert band, stage band, concert choir, music theory and all of the musicals that were put on by an exceptional drama department, my experience at BHS was a rich and diverse one musically for me. It saddens me to hear that programs like those, which were so influential for me personally, have ended up on the chopping block as a result of budget cuts.”
Testimony by Beaverton Friends of Music member, Tom Colett, at October 29th School Board Business Meeting
My name is Tom Colett, I am a Beaverton resident and I am here tonight representing Beaverton Friends of Music. Over the past two months, our members have had the privilege of engaging with the school board in person, via email and by phone. There have been many constructive conversations about how to protect and grow music learning opportunities for students in the Beaverton School District. But, our work must not stop there. We have a vision for music in this district: every elementary school student should receive general music instruction from a certified music teacher for a minimum of 90 min per week and middle and high school students should receive instrumental and choral instruction from a certified music teacher at least three hours per week. Band and choir programs should receive proper funding, so families do not have to pay extra fees and music directors do not have to spend additional hours helping parents organize fundraisers just to keep the program afloat. Elementary classes should have new, well-maintained instruments, appropriate for the kinds of activities that meet the national standards for music education:
1. Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. 2. Performing on instruments, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music. 3. Improvising melodies, variations, and accompaniments. 4. Composing and arranging music within specified guidelines. 5. Reading and notating music. 6. Listening to, analyzing, and describing music. 7. Evaluating music and music performances. 8. Understanding relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside
the arts. 9. Understanding music in relation to history and culture.
This vision will not only ensure the whole child is being taught, it will play an important part in achieving the district’s strategic plan by allowing a wide diversity of students to THRIVE. We will continue to be in contact with the board, inviting ideas, conversation, and most importantly concrete action that can help provide our students with a strong music education. We ask that you please take some quality time to think of what you might do to show your commitment to providing the kind of funding and support our music programs need to once again be the pride of the Beaverton and Oregon.
Dana Woodhouse Nagy Testimony at October 29th School Board Business Meeting
Dear Board Members,
This is my son, Ethan. He is 11 and attends the ISC at Whitford Middle School. We specifically chose Whitford at the recommendation of Ethan’s wonderful elementary teacher, Serena Meek, because the ISC teacher there was considered among the best.
When we started school we were informed that this teacher had been laid off and replaced by another teacher who, while having a special education credential, did not specifically have ISC experience at this grade level.
Since the beginning of the school year, it was obvious that the class was struggling. The teacher was trying to meet the needs of each student while establishing a new class, staff and schedule, and lesson plans. My son came home agitated every day. Ethan has difficulty speaking but he reacts to stress and loud environments.
Finally, 5 weeks into the school year, I received a letter from the teacher informing me that she was stepping down from her position. Her excuse was missing her family in another state. But I was a teacher, married to a teacher, and I know that quitting a contracted position in the middle of the year without extenuating circumstances is the professional kiss of death to a teacher. It was obvious that this teacher, this qualified and capable teacher, was placed into a position which she had little experience in, with little time to prepare. Despite supports brought in from other specialists and the district, she felt she had little other choice but to quit.
District choices ended up effecting my son’s education, his routine and his personality. A good teacher’s reputation is tarnished. School officials, specialists, even the principal, have been working diligently to make up for the damage that has occurred by helping in his classroom. I consider myself lucky that those in daily contact with the students in this class have taken it personally upon themselves to try to right the wrongs that have occurred here. A credential in special education isn’t a one size fits all qualification. There are many different areas. To simply plug one person in because they have the right degree can produce disastrous results in a classroom and children like my son are the ones that end up paying for someone else’s strict interpretation of the rules.
But it doesn’t stop there. I recently also found out that my son’s class doesn’t get music anymore either. When I inquired why, I was informed that staff reductions had resulted in only one music teacher, a part time band instructor. He doesn’t have the time in his schedule to accommodate teaching music to an ISC class. My son couldn’t handle the sensory overload of band. My son is being denied access to the arts due to his disabilities.
I would like to quote your own policies to you:
“It is the policy of the Beaverton School District that there will be no discrimination or harassment of individuals or groups based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, marital status, age, veterans’ status, genetic information or disability in any educational programs, activities or employment.”
With this statement in mind, I must wonder why it is that the students of Whitford’s ISC are not being given equitable access to activities such as music or art. This would appear to go against your own policy of inclusion.
If my son could talk he would tell you many things. But he can’t talk well enough to talk to you. So it’s up to me to be his voice. To remind you that these students, children like Ethan, deserve the same consideration and access to enriching curriculum and activities as every other student. No, I would go so far as to say that they deserve MORE access to these programs. They work hard enough in their everyday lives.
Sincerely,
Dana Woodhouse-Nagy
Mother of Ethan, 6th grade student at Whitford Middle School
Unlocking Student Potential through Music Education
Last summer, the BSD posted a hypothetical story about a girl named Lilly, whose potential was ‘unlocked’ by teacher collaboration time. In response, the Beaverton Friends of Music have written a parallel hypothetical story about a girl named *Lily*, who would blossom in myriad ways if the BSD supported music education along only the nationally recommended *minimums*. As amazing as it may seem, multitudes of research studies have confirmed that music education yields the kinds of benefits described in our story.
Imagine a district full of Lilys who each get such rich and broad benefits, and can then go on to share their knowledge and skills with their communities and meet the challenges of the 21st century world-at-large with a full range of options available, ready for college and career. In these days in which we are called on to do more with less, retaining and building our music education is a clear, obvious choice for maximum “return on educational investment” for all of Beaverton’s children. Here is Lily’s story.
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Unlocking Student Potential through Music Education
The Beaverton School District is moving forward, in conversation with the teachers’ association, to plan for a consistent time for certified music teachers to give music education to students in every school. This plan will meet the minimum recommended national standard of 90 minutes per week for elementary students and 3 hours per week for those in middle school and high school instrumental and vocal ensembles. The change will represent an increase of an average of 60 minutes per week over the music time elementary students formerly received, and an average of 30 minutes per week over the music time middle students formerly received.
Lily is in third grade. Her family moved to the area several months ago. While she does well in most areas, Lily struggles in math. Her parents were apprehensive about the new school, given Lily’s challenges in math. They met with the principal and learned that schools in Beaverton will now give the students music at least a half hour of music three days a week. Lily’s parents already knew that children who receive comprehensive instruction in music score better on their math and reading tests. The principal at Lily’s new school shared with the parents some of research data on music education that demonstrate multidimensional individual growth, including a study that found musical training far superior to computer training in dramatically enhancing abstract reasoning skills—those used in math and science—from a young age.*
Lily is personally known by the music teacher at her new school, and the music teacher will remember her year after year because she will loop with her students throughout grade school. The results of the new music education policy are in, and they are impressive. Since Lily’s school adopted the national minimum seat time for music as part of its core curriculum, Lily’s achievement in math has skyrocketed from the single digits to over 80%. Lily feels good about herself. Her parents can clearly see the pride and confidence Lily has developed as a musician, and how it carried over to school in general, especially math.
How did this happen? Through the power of music education. Lily loves music because it is the only time of the day she can forget about her problems and create something special as part of a large team. Music stimulates Lily’s mind in a unique way, allowing her to combine the technical and the aesthetic. When making music, Lily and her fellow students are constantly monitoring what they are hearing, seeing, and doing, while making decisions on adjusting tempo, tone, style, rhythm, phrasing, and feeling. This process trains their brain to become effective at organizing and conducting numerous activities at once. In addition, Lily is learning teamwork and other social skills, as well as experiencing the effort and discipline it takes to create a good product. Lily leaves music class feeling refreshed, renewed, and prepared to continue learning back in her homeroom.
The staff at Lily’s school knows that giving children the maximum amount of instructional time with certified teachers leads to the best outcome for the students. Certified music teachers carefully construct lessons that integrate all subject areas within a musical context. Another benefit of increasing music education time is that while students are learning important skills in music class, their homeroom teachers can use that time to collaborate and improve instructional strategies for students like Lily who may be struggling in certain areas, or those who need greater challenges.
Research finds abundant and consistent confirmation of Lily’s experience: that music education leads to greater general academic achievement, individual student growth, and personal success. Music education helps students do so many things at a higher level, including processing language, developing spatial and multiple other intelligences, organizing information, creative thinking and problem solving.
Lily’s story illustrates the dynamic power of music education when it is prioritized as part of the core curriculum. For decades, Beaverton schools have offered music taught by certified specialists, but they have never yet met the national recommended minimums. Students have benefited immensely from this instruction as it stands, yet they will benefit even more widely and deeply when allowed the critical minimum time. Further, regular music class creates time for homeroom teacher collaboration, for teachers to meet in learning teams to know better each student’s strengths and challenges, and to meet their specific learning needs, while strengthening their own teaching practice. Collaboration can thus happen without schools having to resort to complicated late starts or activities with non-certified staff. Working together, music teachers and classroom teachers can educate the whole child in Beaverton schools through ensuring consistent, sufficient music time each week, and year after year.
*Shaw, Rauscher, Levine, Wright, Dennis and Newcomb, “Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children’s spatial-temporal reasoning,” Neurological Research, Vol. 19, February 1997. Please visit http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/benefits.html for more information.
Willamette Week: Murmers
WW Article Clip
“Last week, Gov. John Kitzhaber’s Oregon Education Investment Board met to take testimony on education spending and Kitzhaber’s school reform efforts. But only one person on the 12-member board, Hanna Vaandering of the Oregon Education Association, showed up. The board’s chief of staff, Cathleen Healy, says all board members will eventually see or hear all the testimony. Save Our Schools, a watchdog group, called the poor attendance “disrespectful.” The board plans eight hearings across the state to shape next year’s K-20 budget. The Portland hearing was held—without irony—at Marshall High School, shuttered in 2010 for financial reasons.”