Communal Living

Scott County Schools District Choral Music Festival was held Monday evening. Over 700 choir students from 11 different schools squeezed into the gymnasium at Scott County High School, along with friends and family who came to support their singers. It was a spectacular event. The students worked hard on their pieces and their conductors and accompanists poured their love of choral music into these eager young hearts. The atmosphere was charged with excitement.

Each school’s choirs presented one choral piece, three choirs on stage at one time. When each choir completed their performances, they exited the stage and three more choirs would step up. Transition times were awkward, but necessary. During these transitions I took advantage of the opportunity to people-watch…a favorite pastime of mine.

I watched the students, sitting in their choral groups, wearing their choir uniforms proudly, awaiting opportunities to see the other performances. Time after time I witnessed a parent edging up to a group of students and urging their child to leave. Their choir had already performed, so they were ready to go home. The children would emphatically shake their head ‘no.’ Reading lips, I witnessed one little girl say,  “I can’t.” A few times a teacher had to intervene to tell the parent the children could not leave, as the concert was not over. The final piece was a grand finale where ALL 700 students performed together…a conducting masterpiece! The students were required to stay so all could perform together. Their grade in chorus depended on their participation. Committing to these performances is a criterion for participating in the choral music program.

I know our lives are busy, but witnessing these occurrences made me sad. Supporting our children and their involvement in the arts: band, choir, dance, art and drama are every bit as important as supporting their involvement in sports and academics. A study conducted in 2005 stated:

“Students who participate in arts learning experiences often improve their achievement in other realms of learning and life…Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles found students with high arts involvement performed better on standardized achievement tests than students with low arts involvement. Moreover, the high arts-involved students also watched fewer hours of TV, participated in more community service and reported less boredom in school.”

I grieved for the children who had to repeatedly tell their parents they could not leave. They were enjoying the event. They wanted to stay. I felt bad for the parents. I know they have other responsibilities: homework, dinner, bedtime, other children, work deadlines, etc. The balancing act we attempt is overwhelming. Considering perspectives in these instances is important. This is only one day out of 365 days in the year. The benefits of this experience outweigh the costs of inconvenience. And, we can never underestimate the importance of teaching our children how they are an integral part of something bigger than themselves. Their contributions to their choir matter. Their choir’s contribution to the school matters. Their schools contribution to the district matters. The district’s contribution to our community matters. Our support for our children is important, but it is also important for us to support the other students, the faculty, the staff and administrators of all our schools. We need to attend these events to not only witness the accomplishments of our children, but to witness and celebrate the accomplishments of our community’s children.

Blessings,
Tracy