• Art Programs in Danger

    The arts are a very important thing to society as a whole. Without the art programs

    what would happen to the next artists of the world? With the budget cuts and money issues in

    schools the arts are in danger of being taken away. Since budget cuts are imminent art

    programs are in danger students must fight for their right to an education that means

    something to them. There are some people who are all for cutting art programs because

    students should work more in core classes instead of ‘fru fru’ art programs but to many

    students it is their life, it helps them learn, it gives them a creative outlet and it keeps them in

    school.

    There are budget cuts all around in school districts nowadays and students fear that

    they might lose what they love. Band students and performing arts students take their work

    seriously in their art programs and they hate the thought of losing it because they devoted

    hours upon hours to do what they do. In marching band they practice for hours to get the

    formations and music correct and if someone messes up they have to practice longer. It is the

    performing arts because if someone messes up they start over again. Both in band and theatre

    the rehearsals/practices are tedious but rewarding. The students work hard to show what they

    are capable of and with budget cuts they are upset that what they love might be cut and they

    will be without the part of school they care about the most. One of my performing arts

    teachers, Mr. Gillespie, has always said to us that ‘the people in charge do not cut things to


    be evil, just to save money.’ When the school board thinks about cutting programs they first

    think towards the arts programs and what they cost. Students in the art programs hope that

    their program will stay another year but it is the decision of the school board. The arts have

    value both in themselves and as useful tools of thought and connection throughout life. That

    means schools with exemplary art programs will have a balance of arts discipline teaching

    and arts integration across the curriculum. (Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde 204.) The affects

    of what programs get cut will result in some tears, lower test scores and maybe a higher drop

    out rate, but there is some blame as to why some art programs get cut.

    Some people do not care about the art programs so they are able to influence the

    choices made as to what is cut or what is staying. There are teachers who think that the arts

    are not important and that they are not even a real class. They are wrong because the arts

    teach more in depth on how to understand something or even a different way to learn. There

    may be people on the school board who think that the art programs are useless and that

    students should care more about the core classes but to the students they balance their cares

    pretty well. There are some things that the art programs teach a student that they would not

    normally learn in core classes or ‘regular’ classes and that is why some students take their art

    classes more seriously because of it. In the Warren Consolidated School of Performing Arts

    (WCSPA) the students learn lessons that help them in other classes. Cousino High School

    senior and WCSPA student, Ashley Foran, said that she had learned responsibility,


    independence and hard work, which help in the real world and in school. Sterling Heights

    High School junior and band student, Isaac Mathews, said in an interview that he has learned

    discipline and teamwork in band. The things that these two students have learned have

    helped them through school. There are many reasons why art programs are important to

    students and how these programs help them learn. Though some people say that they should

    cut these programs and they are partially the reason why some of the programs are cut there

    are some pretty good life lessons learned in these programs. Students also have some blame

    because they may not be working in their other classes but to seriously look at the statistics,

    the arts students have the better grades; though there are some who do not work and it makes

    the students who do work look bad in turn of that but they do learn some important lessons in

    their arts classes. There are many life lessons that may not be learned if these programs were

    cut.

    Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, MI has done a huge part in shaping young

    artists’ lives. They teach them valuable lessons just like the school arts programs and it

    inspires students to work to their full potential. What Blue Lake does for students is to help

    them realize a sense of personal accomplishment, a renewed enthusiasm for the arts, and

    perhaps a newfound gratefulness for home cooking and a comfortable bed. Personal growth

    is common at Blue Lake. Yet after forty-six years of rehearsals, camp songs, classes,

    campfires, friendships, walks to and from Marek Hall, letters home, and performances, Blue


    Lake still provides a unique experience for its campers. (“Blue Lake in 2011”) It has a huge

    band camp that helps their campers learn so much more about what they play and the music

    that goes with their particular instrument. The Michigan Educational Theatre Association

    (META) and the International Thespian Society help theatre students learn more about their

    art. At the Michigan Thespian Festival students have a chance to compete in one or two

    categories out of the plethora that there are, they watch four performances from some of the



    troupes that are there and they can participate in many of the different workshops that are

    offered. Warren Consolidated School of Performing Arts (WCPSA) teacher and the State

    Board Director for the Michigan Thespian Festival, Mr. Erik Hart said “The students’

    confidence improves because they are able to perform in front of their peers. They know that

    the audiences they are performing for as well as everyone they are collaborating with are

    like-minded individuals that value the arts.” At this performing arts festival students can

    watch others compete or even compete themselves and these students who are a part of this

    great festival will learn something new about what they love. Mr. Erik Hart had also said that

    “The two most beneficial areas of the festival for student learning are the workshops and the

    individual events.” Most students who go to this festival, to band camp or Blue Lake Fine

    Arts Camp learn something worthwhile. This ties into the arts programs in schools because

    someone can learn so much from just one class. It is something that to a plethora of students

    is an outlet for all of the pain and peer pressure that is upon them or it is the only place they

    feel safe to show the true them. There are quite a few students that love school because of

    their art programs that they are in and without these programs they would mostly lose interest

    in school period. Students should be able to nurture their talents and in these art programs,

    and without them how can they further their knowledge and their talent.

    To students, performing arts, band, and other arts programs are important to them for

    various reasons; one is because it gives them something to look forward to or two because it

    gives them a sense of accomplishment. Creativity is a big factor to why students love these

    programs so much. It gives them something that they can express themselves with and if

    someone looks in an elementary school they will see the identical projects that teachers give

    to students and make them follow the instructions instead of letting their students have

    creative freedom they cannot express themselves. Students need that so that they are their

    own person, not a clone of what society tries to make them. Teenagers, children and college

    students do not perform their best in their classes when they are not interested in what they

    are learning and that is where the arts come in. The arts can help a student understand

    something better because the creative way to learn something gets the students involved and

    interested in their work. Students do need something artistic in their day to realize their

    talents that they have not really tried to tap into. Every student’s education should assist in

    the lifelong quest to discover and develop one’s strongest, most powerful modes of

    expression. (Zemelman, Daniels, and Hyde 205) It should also be used as a tool of thinking

    because it makes the students think out of the box to find more complex and interesting

    answers when they are working on something for a class. Music is also great for thinking and

    learning. Take the old Disney movies for example; in Pocahontas the song ‘Colors of the

    Wind’ is talking about how people judge at first glance and how they do not think before

    they act and in it Pocahontas is trying to explain that everyone is a person no matter what

    they look like. Every type of art has its importance in society. Theatre is entertainment and it

    gives people an experience that they would not otherwise have. Music is a way to understand

    feelings that people have but it is expressed in an orchestrated form. Writing is the same way

    but there is no instruments played with writing. Paintings are just someone’s imagination and

    unique ideas painted on a canvas. Look at all the different types of art, they really do play a

    big part in society and that is why schools need art programs because students would not

    have the great opportunities that are there right now.

    There are amazing benefits to art programs in schools, it helps students express

    themselves, to have an art student in class is a joy and it keeps the students involved in

    school. Students need to express themselves in different ways and they need someplace

    where they can do it and not be made fun of because of what they do. The arts are a place where

    like-minded individuals can be themselves and not hold back because it is a very friendly

    place to most. I for one can attest to how friendly it is in theatre. In theatre someone can look

    and act like a fool and people will join in because it is fun. In band they play their

    instruments and talk to each other like it is in theatre. In many of the arts people actually

    break out of their ‘shell’ and become so much more outgoing than they were before they

    joined. Someone can learn so much more in the arts and apply it in real life. Music can teach

    people ways to express their feelings and in theatre/musical theatre someone can create a

    different person that is not expected. As Constantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski said, ‘A

    character is a mixture of the writer’s character written and the person acting as it.’ There are

    many different things that someone can learn from being in the arts and the one thing that

    every art person learns, no matter what type of art they are doing is to be themselves.

    There are some people who are all for cutting art programs because students should

    work more in core classes instead of ‘fru fru’ art programs but to many students it is their


    life, it helps them learn, it gives them a creative outlet and it keeps them in school. Many

    people are indebted to the arts because of all the creative freedom it gives them and they love

    what they do. People who are in charge should actually talk to those students and teachers

    who are in the arts programs because they could get an inside look at what these programs

    really mean to the students and teachers. They might think twice before cutting these

    programs after learning what it does for the students and teachers. If they talked to these

    people there are many things that they could learn from them and without these art programs

    there would not be people who express themselves through art in the ways that they do with

    these programs.