Special to the Star News
The Elk River Area School District has been honored with the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation Award, recognizing the district as one of the best in the nation in supporting music education.
This year, 476 school districts – out of more than 13,500 nationally – received the NAMM honor of Best Communities for Music Education, recognizing the efforts of music educators, parents, students and community leaders who “work together to ensure access to music learning for all students as part of the school curriculum.”
“We’re truly honored,” said Susan Potvin, a member of the district’s curriculum team who headed up the effort to vie for the NAMM award. “But we see that this is just a start, not an arrival point, for music education in our district. This shows that we are in the process of doing some really great things and that we need to keep working hard to improve our music education programs.”
Music education has shown a tremendous recovery in District 728 during the last decade. With many roadblocks put in place during lean budgeting years in the early part of the 2000s, school administrators and the communities of Otsego, Elk River, Rogers and Zimmerman have worked together and used some innovative collaboration to bring music back, according to a District 728 press release.
“I think our School Board, five or six years ago, made allocations to put us on the right track,” Potvin said. Bringing back middle school programming, beginning in sixth grade, was a step in the right direction, she added.
Now, the Elk River Area School District has increased the frequency of classes even as the district has grown. Students are studying to play music and sing, studying music theory and collaborating to perform via the 728 Cadets program well into their high school years.
“I’m thrilled,” Rogers High School teacher and band director Christopher Moore said of the award. “It highlights what we are doing right, and it highlights the potential we have to grow. My hope is that students and families see this award as both a success and a great new reason to join band.”
Future of district music program bright
The future of music in District 728 schools is bright, said vocal music teacher Keri Sollitt of Salk Middle School, but more great work is needed to keep programs on a trend of improvement.
“The biggest thing is making sure music offerings are equitable, optimal and comprehensive for all students,” Sollitt said. “If we’re committed to developing well-rounded students, then we must commit to a broad, varied and high-quality curriculum that educates the whole child.” And music education does that, Sollitt said.
“It’s refreshing to know the music staff and community members here will always do what they can to fight for our programs and to make them better,” ZHS/ZMS specialist Stephanie Feld said. “The music staff across the board here puts their heart, soul and passion for music into their daily lesson plans and countless performances.”
All involved are hoping the award brings more exposure to 728’s music opportunities and that the programs continue to grow due to this new measure of success.
“We’re starting to get the facilities that will allow our programs to grow at this time, too,” Feld said. “That’s exciting.”
Performance opportunities and state-of-the-art learning space will only foster more growth and, hopefully, additional success for district music programs, the release said.