The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus trumpets a music-education message.
When I talk to those I know who work outside the music industry, I’m often amazed by how little they participate in their profession’s trade association, and how little they seem to know about the association that serves their industry. I’m also continually surprised by music teachers who aren’t members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). Doesn’t it just make sense to be part of an organization of similar and like-minded people?
I think it’s important for all of us in the music products industry to realize the value of NAMM and, probably even more importantly, the value of the NAMM Foundation. It’s obviously a goal of any business in our industry to have more music makers in the world, thus creating more demand for our products. But, as we all know, it’s also very unique for our industry to want more music makers around because we love the idea of others sharing our passion for music.
Through the years, NAMM has done a tremendous job of highlighting the benefits of making music throughout our lives. The NAMM Foundation takes that to the next level and provides numerous ways for all of us in this great industry to join together and be part of their good work.
The author,
Mark Despotakis (far left), has taken a leading role in music advocacy.
The SupportMusic Coalition
The SupportMusic Coalition has been around for more than 10 years, and it’s grown to thousands of individuals and businesses that believe in the power of music education in schools. The Coalition can be valuable to you and your business as a way to stay informed about the latest news in music education. It only makes good business sense to stay aware of information that directly impacts your customers.
Rewarding Excellence In Education
The NAMM Foundation Best Communities for Music Education and SupportMusic Merit Award program recognizes schools and communities for their commitment to music education. Such a designation can go far in helping a school to advocate and bring continued awareness to the positive things happening within its walls, centered on music education. For the past two years, six designees have received a two-day residency with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. This year, one of those designees was the McKeesport Area School District, which happens to be the school district in which my business is located. I had the honor of spending much of the two days with the students and faculty at McKeesport High School.
On the first day of the Lennon Bus visit, six students wrote, recorded and produced a music video. Yes…that all happened in one day! It was amazing to see what the professional Lennon Bus team was able to do with six students in just a few short hours.
The second day of the Lennon Bus visit provided for a live SupportMusic Community Forum from McKeesport High School. The forum was a chance for students, parents, teachers, administrators and elected officials to have a dialogue about the importance of music education in schools. Although it might seem obvious to those of us who are intimately involved with music every day, it’s important to have discussions like that, so we can remind others about the value of music education and show them the impact it has on students.
The Lennon Bus visit created positive attention for the school district, especially the music program. In this era, when schools and educators are frequently under scrutiny, it’s even more important to spend some time focusing on the good things happening in schools. As advocates, we might get so tied up in fending off a crisis that we forget the real value of just being there…just showing up and highlighting the positives happening in our schools.
The NAMM Foundation Community Forum tour seeks not only to showcase the positive things happening in music education around the country, but also to inspire and teach others about how they can improve their own programs. It was obvious to me that the students and faculty in McKeesport believe in their music program, and they were happy to spread the word about their program to the rest of the country.
After the Lennon Bus pulled out of McKeesport, it also made stops in Waxhaw NC and Miami FL. The tour will visit San Diego CA, Oklahoma City OK and Saint Croix Falls WI in the spring.
Encourage schools in your area to apply for the Best Communities designation. The positive attention they receive from it can only help to strengthen their programs.
Talking Up Music Education
Another new advocacy and education tool released by the NAMM Foundation is the “Talking Up Music Education” podcast. Mary Luehrsen, Executive Director of the NAMM Foundation, hosts the podcast and interviews leaders in the world of music education and music-education advocacy. I was lucky enough to guest host an episode recorded at Music for All’s Bands of America Grand National marching band championships.
The new podcast can serve as a valuable resource for all of us. It’s easy to listen to at your convenience, as it’s available on iTunes and Stitcher. Thus far, it’s provided pointed interviews with takeaways that we all can use.
Educators, administrators and, most importantly, students have shared their thoughts about the state of music education and how it fits into modern school life.
Believe In Music Fund
The NAMM Foundation has recently launched the “Believe in Music” fund. The fund will help to achieve NAMM’s goal—and, really, the goal of us all—to create more music makers.
“We are proud to announce the opening of the ‘Believe in Music’ fund with the initial goal of raising $100,000 to further support music and music education,” Luehrsen said. “There are more than 10,000 NAMM member companies around the world with founders and employees who have been touched by this incredible industry. A gift to the NAMM Foundation will enable more young people to have the same opportunity that we had: the opportunity to experience the power of music.”
The NAMM Foundation already receives money through NAMM’s Circle of Benefits, by which the association reinvests trade-show income into funding scientific research and grants to support innovative music-learning programs. The “Believe in Music” fund will serve as a direct way for NAMM members to help to fund the valuable work of the NAMM Foundation.
It’s important for all of us to be part of something bigger than ourselves and to be active members of our trade association. We are fortunate to have a trade association that believes in giving back and providing resources for us to use, as we all seek to create more music makers.
I encourage you to get involved with the work of the NAMM Foundation and to find ways for your business to participate in some of the programs I’ve mentioned. You can find out more about those programs, and other important work done by the NAMM Foundation, by visiting nammfoundation.org.