Clarke County School District named in 2013 Best Communities in Music Education

By Anisa Sullivan Jimenez

The Clarke County School District was recently named as one of the 2013 Best Communities in Music Education as part of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation Best Communities for Music Education Program. The school district, in partnership with AthFest Educates!, received this designation due to the school district’s commitment to arts education.

The Clarke County School District has managed to increase its support over the past few years for arts education. In total, over $500,000 in new funding has come from Board of Education allotments, state and local grants and collaborative agreements with university and community based arts agencies.

Specifically:

The school district, in cooperation with the University of Georgia Department of Music Education, now offers afterschool orchestra and percussion classes at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Athens.

The school district also offers afterschool elementary band and orchestra programs. In the past two years, two orchestra positions have been added, and funds for a part time Fine Arts Consultant have been allocated.

Large instruments were purchased, including the repair and replacement of orchestra instruments in two middle schools, a new set of orchestra instruments for one high school and technology allocations for all elementary schools.

The University of Georgia Hodgson Hall offers free concerts for students and teachers, as well as cross- curricular arts activities.

The school district is preparing for its first Fine Arts Day Celebration, in partnership with AthFest Educates!

Arts teachers are highly qualified, and retention rates are high. student scholarships for afterschool music programs, grants for teachers and concerts, and residencies in our schools by local musicians and artists.

“This award recognizes our community and district's long-standing commitment for fine arts education. As educators, we now know that involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking and verbal skills,” said Dr. Mark Tavernier, the school district’s director of teaching and learning.

AthFest Educates donated $40,000 worth of instruments last year to local music programs. In addition, they have provided student scholarships for afterschool music programs, grants for teachers and concerts, and residencies in our schools by local musicians and artists.

Jared Bailey, Director of AthFest Educates!, says he is, “happy to support our local school system and looks forward to a long and fruitful partnership,” adding, AthFest Educates! is “glad to see that an organization such as NAMM recognizes what we who live here already know: Athens supports music.”

The NAMM Best Communities designation recognizes collaborative, from-the-ground-up efforts of teachers, administrators, students and parents who continually work to keep comprehensive music education as an integral part of the core curriculum. This year, nearly 2000 schools and school districts participated in the survey, and 307 school districts made the final list.

More information is available by clicking here.

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