In Tuesday’s (2/22) Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California), Kerry Benefield writes, “When Monroe Elementary School Principal Rachel Valenzuela was confronted with a student who was slow to get motivated for class work, she learned that he was particularly fond of the school’s new music appreciation program. Now, just months into the implementation of ‘It’s Elementary’ music, the boy is rewarded for improved focus by getting individual time in class listening to classical music on a pair of headphones. It’s an unusual—but effective—use of the new music curriculum sponsored by the Santa Rosa Symphony that prides campuses with CDs, curriculum outlines and at least two performances from ensembles per year, Valenzuela said. … ‘We think it’s part and parcel of overall education and overall attainment of any individual,’ said Creighton White, a member of the Santa Rosa Symphony board of directors and a vice president of the Santa Rosa Kiwanis Club. … Teachers are given tools to teach fractions by counting musical beats, given social studies lessons through learning about the age in which pieces were composed, and language lessons by writing letters to long-dead composers.”
Posted February 22, 2011
