Yoakum ISD’s Music Education Program receives national recognition for second year

Yoakum Indpendent School District (YISD) was recently honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education.

In its 25th year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts demonstrating outstanding achievement for providing music access and education to all students.

To qualify for the Best Communities designation, YISD answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program and community musicmaking programs.

Responses were verified by school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.

“A music rich experience for children of singing, listening, moving, and playing instruments is vital to our children as a part of a well-rounded education,” said YISD Superintendent of Schools Tom Kelley.

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 participants showed more substantial improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers as well as students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school they also attend college. 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 including conflict resolution, teamwork skills, and how to give and receive constructive criticism.

“ Yoakum ISD i s committed to offering a high quality music education. The YISD, along with our Band Boosters and other community organizations, have completely absorbed the high costs so anyone can participate regardless of their financial status. Yoakum m ay n o t b e ab l e t o offer a large vari - ety of programs like many larger schools, but our community, school district, teachers, and students are committed to making what we have the best it can possibly be,” shared YISD Director of Bands Dr. Jennifer Voges.

ABOUT THE NAMM FOUNDATION:

The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 15,000 global member companies and individual professionals worldwide.

The foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifesspan by supporting scientific research , philanthropic giving, and public service programs.

For more information, visit www. nammfoundation.org.