Led by the National Association for Music Education, Music in Our Schools Month (MIOSM) was created to demonstrate the powerful role that quality music programs play in the lives of young people. This month we highlight how critical it is to make music education available to every student. Your mission is to go out there and promote the heck out of your program! It’s your chance to advocate to your community and to demonstrate how incredible your students are. You’re probably doing a lot of this already, but MIOSM means you can lean on a national organization to go the extra mile.
In this episode, I’ll share activities you can do online, in class, and at your concert (if you have one this month).
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In This Episode, You’ll Learn How To:
- Celebrate MIOSM with your students
- Show your community why music education matters
- Create a buzz around your program
- Get parents and administrators more involved with your program
MIOSM Activities
I’ve compiled the activities discussed in this episode into a handy, categorized list. Download the list and get started celebrating MIOSM!
Download the checklist here
Three Key Takeaways
“Start off by having a goal”
Choose a goal before you start. Do you want to get your program some public recognition? Do you want your program’s social media accounts to have more followers from the community (besides just parents)? Maybe this is the time of year to recruit students for next year. Pick something that you can measure so that you know how successful you were this MIOSM.
“Advocacy is so much more than getting parents involved.”
Advocacy is about converting the non-believers. It’s about bringing people around to your way of thinking. You can increase your program’s significance – and in turn the significance of your students – by advocating for music education. Whether you post articles about the value of music education, hold a fundraiser for your program, or have activities to keep students engaged and enrolled, advocacy can help demonstrate the value of music education to a larger audience than just parents.
“Think about the next level.”
Whatever activities you do this MIOSM, be sure to consider the next level. A thank you note from students to an administrator is great, but what about inviting someone from the district level to participate in your next concert.?This is an extremely powerful way for these people to experience firsthand how important these performance opportunities are to your students.