Benjamin Apostle

Renuka
12/10/15
Action Proposal
Mrs. Murphy and the staff of Marion Law Academy,
It has been a distinct pleasure to work with the young ladies here at this school during my
time directing the Marion Law Ladies Ensemble, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so.
With that being said, this is not a program that should be allowed to die. The benefits of a
musical education early in the development of a child are well documented, and you
acknowledged that you in fact, are already aware of the plethora of advantages children with a
musical background of some sort have over their peers. The girls in my choir are absolutely not
the exception. The girls in my program have exhibited a greater understanding of music during
their time with myself and my team, but the true advantages are seen in their interactions with
each other. The girls are better behaved, more obedient and better team players than they were
when we started. This is progress that needs to be continued, and that is not as daunting as it is
often made out to be. If proof is what you require, look no further than myself. I did this. I started
the choir, directed it (both musically and from an authoritative stance), and facilitated, with my
team, all of the aforementioned benefits and positive changes, and who am I? No one really. I am
not, by any means, a trained educator. Im not even truly a musician. I possess only a year of
schooling as a music major, and my concentration was saxophone performance, not singing, and
certainly not choral instruction or directing of any kind. So if I can do it, why couldnt a member
of your staff? The skills required to do what I did are, admittedly, quite minimal. Any competent

adult could learn all the skills required to run a choir at the elementary level for these girls in a
few short hours with a musician. So, I propose that you contact Wayne State Universitys music
program, and work out an arrangement where a director (or potentially even a student with a
high enough understanding of the process) comes in to your school and holds a free clinic for
your staff, in hopes to give them the basic skills needed to take over where my crew and I are
leaving off.
Now, it is true that through this process, you would not produce highly trained music
teachers. Nor would you have competent directors of anything more than an elementary choir.
But thats what you have: an elementary choir. And while the staff may not be/feel overly
qualified, anything is better than nothing. Simply giving these girls (and boys if you chose to
take it in that direction) an environment that facilitates that sort of development with a clear
director is all that is required at this low level to reap the benefits. And while your staff may not
all be incredibly keen on the idea of staying after to direct it, you could more than likely find one
who would be. One hour, once a week, really is not too bad (I would know, Ive done it for two
semesters now). I understand that many schools facing economic issues often get nervous at the
thought of a music program because they view it as daunting, expensive, and foreign to most
regular people, but this simply is not true. Not at this level anyway. Your school has more
resources than it may seem. Wayne State is a university that almost uses service hours as
currency and many students rely on racking up hours to pass classes, maintain membership in
organizations, and even keep scholarships. Finding musicians to come in and offer all of the
necessary instruction to your educators would not be difficult. Even if multiple sessions were
required to truly make your teachers fit to direct, it would not cost you to bring the musicians in,
as we are students. Wayne loves this sort of program and the principles that this embodies. You

would have several steadfast allies in the universitys college of music. And why stop there? My
choir was more than simply a choir, it had a dancing portion as well. I brought a dance major
with me each week to act as the groups choreographer. While she is a fabulous talent, she is
nothing but a sophomore of no real distinction, yet she made a huge difference in the lives of
these young aspiring dancers. In fact, her work with your school recently scored her a job at a
professional dance studio as a youth instructor. You would have very little trouble bringing in a
similar student, if you chose to keep the dance portion of the group alive free of charge. Any one
of your teachers could be the next individual to change the lives of these young girls. They could
be the ones who offer that escape, that chance to be with their friends and feel that team
mentality as they work together toward a goal with a clear purpose: to express themselves
through music. The task is not as impossible as it is often made out to be, and you have more
allies than you may realize.
So what if you dont? What if you do nothing, and let the program die as soon as my
team walks out of your doors for the last time? Your students will be losing out on opportunities
to better themselves in and out of the classroom. Music is an element of the educational process
that is often overlooked or cut to save money. As a result of this, many low income areas suffer
dwindling or non-existent music programs. Only 40% of Detroit Public Schools currently have
an arts department, and only 30% have an active music teacher (Art 1). This problem spans not
just the DPS, but nationwide as schools continually choose to cut the fine arts to avoid cutting
back on sports or other programs. Unfortunately, these actions have very damaging effects on our
youth. Musical education has proven to influence everything from improved language skills, to
overall higher finishing GPA at the end of their high school career, it is crucial to the
development and success of students (Brown 1). Students who are exposed to musical education

(whether they be vocally or through playing an instrument) experience higher levels of

comprehension in their other subjects and tend to rank higher in their class (Brown 2). This
statistic is not even based on the other characteristics of the students. The same results appear in
all demographics, social classes, races, and regions. Students who have some degree of musical
influence, on average, outrank their classmates and go on to lead more successful academic
careers (Brown 2).
Being musically inclined will soon have even more benefits for students. As methods of
education change and become more demanding, requirements are added to students plates every
year for graduation or college admission. But with those additions, come more exceptions and
ways around them, and music could soon step in as a substitute for one of the most daunting
roadblocks in a students academic progression. Most universities either mandate 2 years of a
foreign language before admittance, or require that it be taken once admitted, however, there has
been talk of allowing a very high level of proficiency in music reading/transcribing to stand in
for that requirement (Shirley 4). Musical participation in the form of a class is already in use as a
substitute for visual arts courses and marching band can occasionally be used as an athletic opt
out like football or other sports to take care of the Physical Education Requirement (Shirley 3).
Now, to delve into the process of creating a choir, allow me to offer the procedure my
team followed when creating our program. We put the word out to the students in the form of a
flyer a couple of weeks in advance with an attached permission slip (important for things like
liabilities and even food allergies), and required that it be signed prior to taking part in the choir.
Then, on the first day of practice, we put most of the emphasis on getting acquainted. We played
little get-to-know-you games that my team took part in as well. We established our credibility,
and asked the girls if they had any experience singing. At that point, we held auditions. This is

more important than it sounds, even at this level. The girls were made to think that their talent
was what was being judged, when in reality it was simply a test to see if they would sing in front
of their peers. In the audition, the girls could sing whatever song they wanted, and the audition
order was entirely up to them. This process accomplished three things: one, it allowed us to
actually assess their ability to sing, two, we were able to weed out those students who would not
sing in front of a crowd (a vital skill to choir rehearsals and performing), and three, it gave the
girls who did make it a higher level of confidence because they passed their audition. The
auditions took about an hour, and then each girl who joined late was mandated to go through the
same process before participating. After we rounded out the group, we polled the girls to find out
what kinds of music they wanted to sing. The results werevery inappropriate to say the least.
These young children wanted to sing songs about sex, drugs, violence, and other vulgar topics by
rap artists and the like. Obviously, we could not allow this, so we re-polled them with the
stipulation that the concerts theme would be Disney. This produced better results and created our
set list. The next step was the rehearsing, which was done by playing the song through a speaker
and having the girls sing along, until they knew the words and pitches well enough to transition
to a karaoke version. I conducted the group to help them keep tempo and not speed up (which
they did, feverishly and frequently), while my other instructors circulated the room encouraging
the girls to sing louder, watch the conductor, and stop having side conversations. This process
continued for weeks until they were ready for the concert. This is not the only way to do this, but
I simply wanted to offer it as a possibility or perhaps a jumping platform for ideas with the next
director.
Overall, the act of cutting musical education affects all current and incoming students
to the schools it has been cut from. Music affects not only the academic progress of the students,

but the social progress as well. After school concerts and shows put on by the arts departments
improve both student and faculty morale, and create a more positive environment for learning
and social integration. The school board in the city of Detroit has assured that they fully plan on
reinstating the programs once financial stability is reached (Art 1), but that is an easy statement
to make with no signs of that stability on the horizon, and no plan to reinstate the programs even
if the finances became available. If history is any indicator, the schools have no plans of ever
bringing music back to the schools that have lost it. The individuals in charge simply dont view
it as a necessary portion of a childs education. Actions need to be taken to get the children a
certain degree of musical exposure in the absence of daily classes. You have the opportunity to
take that action. Not only will you be helping your students, but if this sort of thing catches on,
you could be setting the precedent that the rest of the district could follow. Together we can be
the catalyst that sparks a rejuvenation of musical influence in primary schools. I understand that
you may be skeptical, or perhaps you still just dont see the value in this opportunity, and thats
your call to make. Perhaps there are more important things you intend to focus on going forward.
In which case, I wish you the best. Your school is headed in a good direction under your
leadership, and I know youll see bright days ahead. Once again, it has been a joy to make a
difference in those kids lives once a week, and a privilege to do it through the most universal of
languages: music.
Sincerely,
Benjamin ApostleMarion Law Womens Ensemble Director

Works Cited
Shirley, George. "MUSIC EDUCATION IN DETROITS PUBLIC SCHOOLS: THE
STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE." New Music Box. n.d.: n. pag. New Music USA. Web. 5 Feb.
2015. <http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/music-education-in-detroits-publicschools-the-struggle-to-survive/>.
Brown, Laura. "The Benefits of Music Education." PBS parents. n.d.: n. pag. PBS. Web. 6 Feb.
2015. <http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-benefits-of-musiceducation/>.
"Art Education in Detroit Public Schools." UMICH site maker. n.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2015.
<http://sitemaker.umich.edu/art.education/context_of_problem>.