I am neither a parent, teacher nor musician .I am however a great fan of music and am deeply disappointed in the decision to end the Strings Programme .How did this come about ? Were parents ,teachers and musicians notified in advance? How was the community (ie the "rest " of us) to be notified/made aware? Was there a prior article somewhere/ sometime that I missed?
Thank you Joe Moore ( BINN).. for bringing this to our attention today on your site.
People!
How can you not care? Wasn't it a treat having the Strings play at so many of our community events? Music has been a part of Island life since way back when.... it is such a shame to think of this delightful aspect being dis banded.
Is it a done deal? What's the background? Is it finances? Personalities?Lack of teacher /parents/community support?
Anyone direct me where to find reasons/answers?
the day the music died...
Moderator: Gillespie
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Sheri Timsak
- Posts: 357
- Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 9:38 am
- Location: Beaver Island, MI
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pam moxham
- Posts: 237
- Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 5:05 pm
Strings Program - the day the music died
As a parent, what I have found most disconcerting about this whole decision is the lack of involvement and information I have been provided. Parents were never notified that this issue was even under discussion. I learned about it through word of mouth. Because the board doesn't put out an agenda in advance or provide information about what they are discussing, we again only knew about it because we heard from someone. By the time the issue came to the board, the decision had really already been made.
I know that the teachers and administration and board are really working hard to provide a quality education for our students and I am confident they care very much for our students and the school program. That doesn't mean that we will always agree but we should have the opportunity to respectfully and appropriately share our perspective. By excluding parent voices from the conversation (through not inviting parents into the conversation in advance, or creating an opportunity to share a perspective, or even talking about the rationale) it may make it easier to make a decision (less conflict with fewer voices) but it alienates parents from being engaged in the conversation. It also raises a program change to an issue of conflict and short circuits the energy and resources we can bring to help problem solve and look at solutions.
A board discussion is very intimidating to many parents. I was surprised by the number of people who told me that they just couldnâ??t speak at the board meeting. They feared losing friends, business, or having their child alienated. I was also told by some that at this point "the decision has already been made" and that their voice wouldn't matter. We all care about our kids; we should be able to have space and an opportunity to express our perspectives â?? and get in and help find solutions as partners â?? without raising the conversation to such a level that â??sidesâ? need to be taken, that our input is timed and limited, or that strong friendships are lost because of a difference in perspective.
I believe that people involved in the decision are working in good faith to make the best decisions for kids from their perspectives. Yet, in the long run finalizing a decision without notifying us reinforces a sense that parents views aren't really valued or helpful in trying to work through curricular decisions.
Parents still have not been formally notified about the change or the details that will be put in place to support funding and time. We've never been notified that strings lessons at the school have already ended this week (so unless the word of mouth got around kids brought their violins to school today). Throughout all this, parents were provided no information that this was under discussion.
And Pam I agree - for our little guy 7 hour days (35 hours/week) is a lot of time in school. Adding strings at the end of the day will be difficult. For my son replacing nap time (not very helpful for an active little guy!) would be a better solution or using the non-instructional calisthenics time (which the school doesn't count as gym time officially) in the morning. But again, as I've not been involved in any of the planning I can't say if there are other reasons making this less feasible.
From our perspective the strings program is amazing; we think Sheri is an exceptional teacher. This year the program involves nearly half the kids in the school (30 students). Itâ??s inclusion as part of the daily academic day was one of the reasons we were comfortable with the transition to the island school. It reflects a commitment both to carrying on an important cultural tradition of the island and belief that education and learning are about all facets of human experience. I work with schools across the country and the inclusion of an instrument program (not just general music) tends to increase the engagement of students, draws in families, and boosts the quality of students overall learning and achievement. It also provides an opportunity to help students excel who may not find a space otherwise in the curriculum. This program was very well funded; the majority of the resources come from Crooked Tree and the school pays only $56/week (a fraction of the nearly $100,000 we spend on sports). Other schools locally operate under the same time constraints as we do but find space in the curriculum for in some cases daily instrument instruction. Strings here took up only 30 minutes/week for each group.
I am committed to supporting the educators in our school - they care and show ongoing and daily commitment to our kids in many varied and thoughtful ways. I'm so pleased and grateful for the many kindnesses of the educators and the hard work they do every day. And I know that being on a school board can be a thankless task so it's wonderful they're willing to serve our school in that way.
I just wish the board and school system (administrators and teachers) created more spaces for our voices and were more transparent about the conversations they were engaged in. We won't always agree but by working together in respectful ways we can strengthen opportunities for our kids.
Now that the decision has been made, we have an opportunity to explore how to build something new and perhaps better. I hope that weâ??ll be invited into that conversation.
I know that the teachers and administration and board are really working hard to provide a quality education for our students and I am confident they care very much for our students and the school program. That doesn't mean that we will always agree but we should have the opportunity to respectfully and appropriately share our perspective. By excluding parent voices from the conversation (through not inviting parents into the conversation in advance, or creating an opportunity to share a perspective, or even talking about the rationale) it may make it easier to make a decision (less conflict with fewer voices) but it alienates parents from being engaged in the conversation. It also raises a program change to an issue of conflict and short circuits the energy and resources we can bring to help problem solve and look at solutions.
A board discussion is very intimidating to many parents. I was surprised by the number of people who told me that they just couldnâ??t speak at the board meeting. They feared losing friends, business, or having their child alienated. I was also told by some that at this point "the decision has already been made" and that their voice wouldn't matter. We all care about our kids; we should be able to have space and an opportunity to express our perspectives â?? and get in and help find solutions as partners â?? without raising the conversation to such a level that â??sidesâ? need to be taken, that our input is timed and limited, or that strong friendships are lost because of a difference in perspective.
I believe that people involved in the decision are working in good faith to make the best decisions for kids from their perspectives. Yet, in the long run finalizing a decision without notifying us reinforces a sense that parents views aren't really valued or helpful in trying to work through curricular decisions.
Parents still have not been formally notified about the change or the details that will be put in place to support funding and time. We've never been notified that strings lessons at the school have already ended this week (so unless the word of mouth got around kids brought their violins to school today). Throughout all this, parents were provided no information that this was under discussion.
And Pam I agree - for our little guy 7 hour days (35 hours/week) is a lot of time in school. Adding strings at the end of the day will be difficult. For my son replacing nap time (not very helpful for an active little guy!) would be a better solution or using the non-instructional calisthenics time (which the school doesn't count as gym time officially) in the morning. But again, as I've not been involved in any of the planning I can't say if there are other reasons making this less feasible.
From our perspective the strings program is amazing; we think Sheri is an exceptional teacher. This year the program involves nearly half the kids in the school (30 students). Itâ??s inclusion as part of the daily academic day was one of the reasons we were comfortable with the transition to the island school. It reflects a commitment both to carrying on an important cultural tradition of the island and belief that education and learning are about all facets of human experience. I work with schools across the country and the inclusion of an instrument program (not just general music) tends to increase the engagement of students, draws in families, and boosts the quality of students overall learning and achievement. It also provides an opportunity to help students excel who may not find a space otherwise in the curriculum. This program was very well funded; the majority of the resources come from Crooked Tree and the school pays only $56/week (a fraction of the nearly $100,000 we spend on sports). Other schools locally operate under the same time constraints as we do but find space in the curriculum for in some cases daily instrument instruction. Strings here took up only 30 minutes/week for each group.
I am committed to supporting the educators in our school - they care and show ongoing and daily commitment to our kids in many varied and thoughtful ways. I'm so pleased and grateful for the many kindnesses of the educators and the hard work they do every day. And I know that being on a school board can be a thankless task so it's wonderful they're willing to serve our school in that way.
I just wish the board and school system (administrators and teachers) created more spaces for our voices and were more transparent about the conversations they were engaged in. We won't always agree but by working together in respectful ways we can strengthen opportunities for our kids.
Now that the decision has been made, we have an opportunity to explore how to build something new and perhaps better. I hope that weâ??ll be invited into that conversation.
KaiLonnie Dunsmore
kailonnie.dunsmore@gmail.com
kailonnie.dunsmore@gmail.com