* * * *

Hey Beaverton Friends of Music!  Our group was formed in late May, 2012 and we have been working hard all summer.  Now is a good time to look back over the past 14 weeks and appreciate how much we have grown and accomplished in a short period of time, working toward achieving our goal of reinstating music programs as part of the fiscally responsible development of an excellent, comprehensive educational experience for the students in the Beaverton School District.

Here’s just some of what we have been up to so far:

Established and named a permanent music advocacy group in Beaverton; we are perhaps the *only* city-wide education advocacy group in Beaverton

12 weekly planning meetings and counting

2 school board meetings (150+ red shirts at each, 15+ speeches at each) and 1 school board work session (attended by 3 diligent BFoM note-takers)

1 BEA meeting

1 town hall

1 superintendent’s doctoral dissertation reviewed

1 deputy superintendent’s doctoral dissertation reviewed

1 list of music teacher layoffs and transfers, analyzed and posted to BigTent

4 articles published in local newspapers, including a student’s testimony to the board reprinted in the Beaverton Valley Times

4 news interviews aired — KOIN, KPTV, and FOX 12

1 radio interview aired

1400 petition signatures collected in 10 days supporting additional furlough days to save teachers and programs

2800 views on our website

100’s of flyers distributed in both English and Spanish

20+ letters e-mailed to school board including 2 petition letters signed by 20+ members

Established connections with other education advocates and activist groups: Oregon Save our Schools (Oregon SOS), Social Equity Educators (SEE), and Underfunded Parents, Students, and Educators Together (UPSET)

* * * *