The Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central School District has been honored for the seventh year in a row with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation. This title is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in providing music access and education to all students.
To qualify for the Best Communities designation, RCS answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and community music-making programs. Responses were verified by school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
“To our students, teachers, families, and the greater RCS community, this award reflects your support of our [music] department, and we are most grateful.” - Michelle McLoughlin, HS Choral Director and K-12 Arts Curriculum Specialist.
Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music: After two years of music education, researchers found that participants showed more substantial improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers and that students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school but also to attend college as well. In addition, everyday listening skills are stronger in musically trained children than in those without music training. Significantly, listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep sounds in memory. Later in life, individuals who took music lessons as children show stronger neural processing of sound: young adults and even older adults who have not played an instrument for up to 50 years show enhanced neural processing compared to their peers. Not to mention, social benefits include conflict resolution, teamwork skills, and how to give and receive constructive criticism.
Here are a few photos from this year’s music program:
