Adam Cichetti

Argument Essay

Eng 170-29

10/11/23

High School Music Departments Needs More Respect

High School is a four-year period that most adults in America have experienced where we grow from kids into adults. During this block of time the main focus is on classes and learning the core subjects; however, there is also a focus on extracurricular activities. This includes things such as sports and clubs. There’s a third category of activities that falls into both categories which are musical activities such as band, orchestra, or choir. These are all classes students can take but they are also after-school activities as there are performances and extra rehearsals once classes end. During my time at high school, I was very involved in the music program, playing the saxophone for both band and orchestra and the bass for the choir. I was also the president of tech crew which allowed me to see behind the scenes on all the planning that occurred around after school events. From my perspective I watched multiple times as the music department got pushed aside for the convenience of other activities.

Throughout my time at high school, I watched thousands of dollars get thrown into the improvement of sports while the music department had to beg for pennies. At the end of my sophomore year the gymnasium closed, and we had to have gym class outside for what was supposed to be 4 months construction from May to August although it ended up being six months, reopening in October. The gym had been entirely redone with brand new hardwood floors, freshly painted walls, replaced basketball hoops, new bleachers, a jumbotron, and electronic curtain dividers that would lower form the ceiling at the press of a button. Towards the end of my senior year, I watched every day from the cafeteria as they built a brand new $40,000 scoreboard towering over the old one on the football field. While I watched I thought of all the old, rusted instruments in the band room closet that students have to rent from the school and how they could all be replaced with that kind of money. One time while I was helping my band teacher go over the plan for the spring concert, I overheard a conversation between her and the sports director. They were talking about budgets where she begged him to see if he could move some money into the music department to replace a single tuba that was so old it was unplayable while he simply responded, “I’ll see what I can do.” People on boards of education often don’t believe money should go to music programs even if it could cause they don’t view it as important. Despite their beliefs they couldn’t be more wrong, there has been proven that there is a connection between students who take music classes and those who have higher IQs, more confidence, and better social skills (Contributor). Music classes also save money in the long run as the student to teacher ratio is higher. This creates the possibility of there being over seventy students in one music class with one teacher as opposed to a smaller elective with less interest (Contributor).  If even a fraction of the money spent on sports in high school was put into the music programs, they would improve greatly for the students and teachers.

Another thing music departments lack is respect. There were multiple times in my four year high school career that music departments were pushed aside for other events. The biggest one happened twice in back-to-back years. Every year around Valentine’s Day the band hosts a swing dance where three different ensembles perform swing music for any town resident that wants to attend. This is an annual event many seniors look forward to and often attend. During my junior year the basketball team made it deep into the playoffs which caused a scheduling conflict with the dance. The basketball team had a playoff game that was at the same time as the swing dance. This dance has its date locked in a year in advance as it is always either the Sunday before or after Valentine’s Day; however instead of playing the game on Sunday, Friday, or just earlier in the day the whole dance got postponed to April to make way for one game. My senior year a less major incident occurred once again between the basketball playoffs and swing dance. This time the team had a morning game, which meant they could’ve just had one that time my junior year, which meant our time to setup was severely cut due to the game. Normally the time allotted to set up is from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm but due to the game we only had from 2:00 pm until 6:00 pm. This meant we had to decorate the entire gym in valentine’s decorations in less than half the normal amount of time. One non swing dance related event that band got pushed aside during was pep rally my senior year. During my freshman year we had a pep rally which started with the band playing on the field while everyone filled in the bleachers. We then would play the national anthem once everyone was seated to start the rally. During my senior year we were located in the bleachers and relegated to background music while the cheerleaders performed which gave us no time to play on our own.

Music departments seem to be misunderstood and underfunded. There are many cases where sports get minor, expensive upgrades to be put in the future, while the music classes struggle to have enough money to even be in the present. Aside from lack of funding the department is also tossed aside to make way for other events. There is a clear lack of respect for music departments in high school.

 

 

Works Cited

Contributor. “The Real Reason Why Music Programming Is Being Cut From Schools.” The Post Email, 8 Jul. 2020, www.thepostemail.com/2020/07/08/the-real-reason-why-music-programming-is-being-cut-from-schools/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.