In Thursday’s (10/4) Arizona Republic (Phoenix), Ed Masley reports, “The Phoenix Symphony has partnered with ASU Preparatory Academy on a new education initiative, Mind Over Music, aimed at integrating music into the science, technology, engineering and math curriculum, known as STEM. Symphony president and CEO Jim Ward shared his thoughts on the initiative with families Oct. 2 at ASU Prep, where the symphony’s string ensemble presented ‘The Science of Sound’ to illustrate how music can be used in the classroom. Mind Over Music, he explained, is part of a new mission the symphony adopted in 2010 ‘to provide the joy of music as a catalyst for helping Arizona become the best place in the nation to live and to play and to work.’ … John Huppenthal, state superintendent of public instruction, thanked the symphony for its commitment to ‘enriching our student’s lives with music,’ adding, ‘The very best research now tells us that the arts are critical to the development of the whole child and that the integration of the arts and sciences educates each child more expansively and more powerfully.’ … ASU Prep teachers and symphony members have worked together to develop a curriculum that, Ward says, gives students ‘the unique opportunity to see the world through the lens of music’—using musical intervals instead of textbooks worksheets to teach ratios, for instance.”
Posted October 5, 2012
