Document text
61 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, June 13, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 20, 2004 Abraham Lincoln Elementary School fourth-grader Jared Fimple and his sister, Kassie, a seventh-grader at Hedrick Middle School, both picked up an instrument through elementary school music programs. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Music student laments cuts Fourth grader tells Medford School Board it’s the kids who suffer, not adults, when music education gets cut By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Fourth-grader Jared Fimple first picked up a violin in September after orchestral music caught his ear at a school assembly. Now, he doesn’t want to put the instrument down. "I have to tell him to stop," his mom Gillian Fimple said. "When he doesn’t have anything to do, he plays." He’s more likely to be practicing violin than playing video games on his X-Box, she said. And that might not have happened if it weren’t for the music program at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School. Advertisement Jared has learned the basics in twice-weekly beginning orchestra classes this year. His older sister Kassie, a seventh-grader who plays clarinet in Hedrick Middle School’s band, got her start playing flute in band class at Abraham Lincoln last year. Younger sister Mickie, a third-grader, was looking forward to taking up the viola next year. "I don’t know if we would have pursued this if they hadn’t been exposed to it in school," Fimple said. Now the family has compiled research about the benefits of music education — from improved math scores to higher thinking skills and changes in brain development. Jared spoke up about the importance of music education at the Medford school board meeting Tuesday night, when the board voted to cut elementary school music programs to help balance its budget. "It’s not the adults who lose, it’s the kids," Jared told the board. To bridge a $4.9 million budget deficit, the board cut funding for elementary music and library programs, and eliminated teaching positions at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Even as they approved the reductions, board members called for administrators, teachers and community members to find creative ways to keep music in schools. "Right now we can’t fund it, but we have heard such community support that we hope they will come together and find a way," board member Cynthia Wright said. "I think people will get us through. We are committed to bringing it back." Teachers and administrators huddled Wednesday to come up with ways to ease the cuts. "The district is trying to come up with short-term solutions that are Band-Aids, no pun intended," said Allen Barber, the district’s music coordinator and South Medford High School’s band director. "I feel confident that we will find a way to get through this next year and will get this put back together again." The district wants to offer some music teachers the chance to teach general elementary classes so they can stay with the district, in hopes music-teaching jobs might be restored, district personnel director Dan Zaklan said. Reassigned music teachers would have three years to earn credentials for teaching other subjects. In the course of their regular teaching duties, those teachers could continue some music instruction. Middle school music teachers who might have free periods because of schedule changes and reduced class offerings — another result of budget cuts — could travel to elementary schools to teach occasionally, Barber said. Sixth-graders could be bused to middle schools for band classes. Volunteers and community organizations might step up with support for in-school or after-school programs. Penny Austin, president of Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon, plans to continue the fight to keep music in elementary schools. "Of 201 kids in the symphony, all but a handful started (their music education) in public schools," she said. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times