Music To Our Ears

Next week, starting on September 13, ArtsWestchester will be celebrating National Arts in Education week along with arts groups from around the country. The Congressional Resolution creating this important celebration contains a lot of meaningful words about the importance of the arts in our children’s future.  It states that “Arts education, comprising a rich array of disciplines including dance, music, theatre, media arts, literature, design and visual arts, is a core academic subject and an essential element of a complete and balanced education for all students.”

As parents debate the common core and Congress debates the transformation of “No Child Left Behind” legislation of the Bush era into the “Every Child Achieves” Act of the Obama era, the National Arts Week legislation, has a powerful string of reasons why we should be celebrating among them is that “schools with large populations of students in economic poverty can be transformed into vibrant hubs of learning when the arts are infused into the culture and curriculum. This Congressional acknowledgement of course is music to the collective ears of arts organizations in Westchester which for years have been bringing the arts to schools throughout the county.