|
Final Draft, February 7, 2003 February 21, 2003 Memo to: Members of the Yale Class of 1957 From: the Coordinating Committee Re: 1957’s Music in Schools Initiative – The Class Project The beginning of the New Year seems like a good point to update all classmates on our Music in Schools project. Last June, during our 45th reunion, 125 classmates gathered for a progress report on the project, midway between the project’s germination at our 40th reunion and the expectation of it becoming a permanent legacy by our 50th reunion. Joe Clayton warmed up the group, reminiscing about an inspiring 3rd grade Oklahoma music teacher who put him on the trail to Yale, to the Whiffs, and beyond. Don Roberts reminded classmates why we started a class project, how we selected “Music in Schools,” and the project’s goal: In a nutshell, to give every student in K-12 public schools the same opportunity to grow through music that Joe was given. Malcolm Mitchell reported on research which confirms that kids involved in music are better students and better kids. David Mininberg reported on a 1957-sponsored music initiative to start in New Haven in September, 2002. More on this below. And Professor Paul Hawkshaw, holder of the Yale School of Music’s highest honor for scholarship and community service, reported on other ties between the School of Music and the City of New Haven, ties which respond to Yale’s priority to be a good citizen in New Haven. Since reunion there have been exciting project developments, especially in New Haven. In September, through our efforts and our funding, Education Through Music, a 10-year-old New York City-based not-for-profit, started working at Lincoln Bassett School, an elementary school with 500 students in a not-so-well-to-do area a half mile northwest of the Yale Divinity School. Education Through Music supports three music teachers at Lincoln Bassett in a program that both teaches music and contributes to enhancing the literacy skills of the children. Every child has 2 hours of music weekly, in which the teaching of music reinforces skills taught in the standard curriculum (for example, counting, classifying, listening, discipline). A group of classmates, working through the Yale School of Music, is underwriting the first two years of this program. Lincoln Bassett School and the New Haven Board of Education, particularly School Superintendent Dr. Reginald Mayo, have warmly expressed their gratitude to our Class. The New Haven Register in November and The Yale Daily News in January reported on Lincoln Bassett’s music program and our involvement. Three New Haven television programs have featured the Lincoln Bassett music program and our classmate Gus Kellogg, who is New Haven coordinator for the project. Additional feedback indicates that the program is really working and truly enriching the education of the Lincoln Bassett students. Education Through Music’s pattern is to fully fund the initial years of each school’s music program, then insist on local school community funding to gradually supplant ETM’s support – a good test of whether the music program is really appreciated. The long range hope is that, with substantiated success at Lincoln Bassett, the program will be extended to other New Haven schools and, eventually, throughout the District. There are two other recent developments to report on. The project website – www.musicinschools.org – is being enhanced under the guidance of Phil Richards and with design advice from Andy Kner. The goal is to present a clearer, more compelling message about the project to classmates and to the public. The class project was also featured in the Fall, 2002 issue of The Venture Catalyst, published by The Alumni Network, a Princeton Class of 1955 undertaking that acts as a clearing house for altruistic alumni efforts like ours. What’s next? First, our enhanced project website will allow us to document the continuing efforts of classmates nationwide in identifying and reporting on good music education programs, good ideas for promoting music education in public schools, and good research into the benefits of music education. Nick Tingley is organizing the Questionnaire responses already received from classmates. Unfortunately, we did not get as many responses as we had hoped. But Nick has summarized those received and will post the summary on the website along with the individual responses. We thank those classmates who did submit questionnaires, and we recognize that several other classmates were stymied in their efforts to complete it. We’ll also improve the organization of the site’s existing links to good research and to comments from classmates. Our hope is to make the website an important resource for the many groups and individuals around the country who are working to expand music education. Second, between now and our 50th reunion we want to build on our progress in New Haven schools and make it permanent. A $2 million endowment would achieve this. In addition, we want to support, through the Yale School of Music, annual symposia and/or classes featuring international experts in music education. These events would be available not only to Yale students and personnel from New Haven schools; they would also provide an opportunity for our classmates nationwide to recommend local music teachers to attend. The ultimate objective is to improve overall teacher training in music in public schools throughout the country. A $1 million endowment would support this program. Gifts to both endowments would also be credited to our class 50th reunion. We will report further on the project at the class meeting preceding our March 13 New York City dinner. In addition to classmates already mentioned, we want to thank Ellsworth Davis and Steve Hopkins for their support and help with the project. As always, suggestions or questions may be sent to Malcolm Mitchell or Don Roberts. Attachments: Yale Daily News, January 13, 2003 article New Haven Register, November 30, 2002 article The Venture Catalyst, Fall, 2002 article  Yale Class of 1957 is not a particularly unusual class. They graduated in 1957 and started their lives and careers like many other graduates from Yale. The thing that sets the Class of 1957 apart from other classes is the fact that they are committed to making a difference in the community that they left as undergraduates 45 years ago. When at their 40th reunion in 1997, the Class brought up the idea of a project that they could all work on together the response was overwhelmingly positive. Once it was clear that the Class wanted to initiate a group project the next item of business was to figure out what exactly they wanted to do. Three criteria were decided upon for selecting a project. The project would (1) invite and enable the active participation of the entire Class, not just a few classmates, (2) would avoid becoming primarily a fund-raising effort and (3) would include a Yale/New Haven aspect. Many potential ideas were discussed, but when the subject of music in schools was brought up the agreement among classmates was immediate, unanimous, and enthusiastic. The mission of the Music in Schools Initiative is to promote expanded music education in public schools K-12 across the country in order to reverse the reduction in music education that has occurred nationwide. Because of the complexity of the mission, the Class decided to break it down into four tasks: (1) gather serious research that establishes the connection between music education and the well-being of young people; (2) collect anecdotes and studies from school districts in which music education programs are benefiting young people and schools; (3) disseminate this information so as to further the overall mission of the Initiative; and (4) identify programs that can be developed for public schools in New Haven and implemented with the cooperation of the Yale School of Music. Over 70 1957 classmates, many of whom have not been involved with the University since graduation, today actively participate in the Music in Schools Initiative. To date, four communities have been surveyed to gather information on successful music education programs and the Initiative has also located substantial, thoughtful research that confirms that exposure to music improves academic performance and emotional well being of school children. Links to this research are available on the Initiative website (www.musicinschools.org). Working with the Yale School of Music and the New Haven Public School System, the Initiative has recruited a nonprofit agency, Education Through Music, to introduce this Fall its very successful music education program into the Lincoln Bassett Community School near the Yale University campus. The Initiative hopes that in time the experience gained at Lincoln Bassett will influence the curriculum of other New Haven public schools and, with the assistance of the Yale School of Music, serve to promote music education in public schools nationwide. The Project Coordinators welcome any questions or suggestions. Contact, Don Roberts '57, ph(212)546-6252 or e-mail at dmroberts@rcn.com or Malcolm Mitchell '57, ph(212) 628-9177, or e-mail at mlm@investmentolicy.com |