January

14, 2016

Alicia Scanlan, Helen Chao-Casano, Jason Byerlotzer,

Kristin Elgersma, Mark Falzarano

SURVEY PROJECT
Reflections on the K-12 Music Program
Process
Selected survey groups
1. Class of 2016 Seniors
2. Ten years of Alumni

SURVEY PROJECT
Reflections on the K-12 Music Program
A special mahalo
to Senior Class Deans,
Reet Ashford & Rick Tune,
who distributed the survey via email on
December 11, 2015

Demographics
125 responses (out of ~425 total students)
Response rate 29%

Demographics

Senior Class Deans, Reet Ashford & Rick Tune

distributed the survey on December 11, 2015
124 responses (out of XXX total students)
Response rate XX%

Demographics

Senior Class Deans, Reet Ashford & Rick Tune

distributed the survey on December 11, 2015
124 responses (out of XXX total students)
Response rate XX%
Wide range of entry points, as well as previous schools represented

We asked
What music courses do you most closely identify with?

We asked
What music courses are you CURRENTLY enrolled in?

We asked
When did you stop taking music at Punahou?

We asked
What factors led to your decision to stop taking
music at Punahou?

We asked students to rate aspects of

their music education at Punahou
Variety of Courses
Quality of Instructors

We asked students to rate aspects of

their music education at Punahou
OpportuniMes for Self-expression
OpportuniMes to Travel

We asked students to rate aspects of

their music education at Punahou
Performance OpportuniMes
Personal Growth

We asked students to rate aspects of

their music education at Punahou
Leadership OpportuniMes
ConnecMng to Peers through Music

Student Feedback
& Quotes

Elementary school music classes

because we got to try a variety of
instruments and styles with our whole
class. It also wasn't graded like in middle
school and the academy.
My favorite music course was band
because I made a lot of friends throughout
band and I had a fun ;me playing the ute
and good experiences with my friends.

What were your

favorite music courses and why?

Orchestra! I love the pieces, I love the

conductors, and I was oored by how
well the Punahou symphony played
compared to my old school orchestra!
Marching Band has been one of the best
courses I have taken at Punahou. It
allowed me to develop not only my
musicianship but also my leadership
skills, through this program I have really
grown as a person. This class made me
who I am today.

What were your

favorite music courses and why?

I love my private lessons at Punahou. My

teacher is excellent and a mentor and
friend to me. I feel lucky to have had the
opportunity to be taught under her.
Every Punahou choir that I was in from 4th
grade to 8th grade was wonderful. I had
special, memorable ;mes in each choir.
When I look back at my middle school years,
choir is denitely something that s;cks out
as being a memory that I will cherish.

What were your

favorite music courses and why?

The only music course I took at Punahou was

Music Explora;ons because I can't sing very well and I
don't play an instrument, but I absolutely loved every
second of it.

The teachers are amazing and if I could take another
course with them I would in a heartbeat. I also enjoyed
being able to learn a lot about a whole bunch of
dierent music

What were your

favorite music courses and why?

I remember all of the special ;mes we had in

prepara;on for concerts. These moments
actually brought me closer to my peers
I really enjoy the concerto concerts every year.
I love the academy chamber music program.
It is a more in;mate and personal music experience, and
you get to bond with your quartet mates more.

Describe your most memorable or

meaningful experience.

I have enjoyed being exposed to music composi;on soMware

throughout my ;me at Punahou.

This has not only enabled me to write music recrea;onally, but
also for class assignments like the Quality Project, Jazz
Expression Piece, and the Capstone Project.

I was exposed to Finale composi;on soMware through
SmartMusic, the dreaded grading assessment system used in
Marching, Concert Band II, and Wind Symphony.

Describe your most memorable or

meaningful experience.

During choir we had a really fun opportunity to

perform in front of our peers in small groups. For this
performance we were able to adapt a song of our
choice
Crea;ng a song for music ex
My most meaningful experience was in 8th grade
Music Explora;ons. The teacher introduced us to
a wide variety of music. From that point forward,
I explored many dierent types of music, and my
music tastes would not currently be so broad
without the class.

Describe your most memorable or

meaningful experience.

It had to be marching for the president in the 2013

Inaugural Parade. It was only my rst year, but I felt so
included and was so excited to be seeing the President
of the United States. I felt so proud of our school at
that moment, and felt so lucky to have experienced
that moment.
My most memorable experience was singing the
Na;onal Anthem at Pearl Harbor in front of 600
people! We didn't know there would be so many
people or how big a deal it would be.

Describe your most memorable or

meaningful experience.

The China trip in freshman year was memorable, as it was a

good exposure to culture, as well as interna;onal music
programs.

It was also a good opportunity to talk to classmates I hadn't
before and get to know the upperclassmen.

Symphony is one of the only classes where students from all
grade levels can come together, making it a unique
opportuni;es to talk to people from all grade levels and
dierent backgrounds.

Describe your most memorable or

meaningful experience.

I think the transi;on from being in advanced band to the

wind ensemble was very smooth. I received a really solid
background in music theory and technique and my con;nued
experience took that background and built upon it.

The transi;on between Advanced Orchestra in
middle school and Symphony Orchestra in high
school went very smoothly because we kind of
had an introductory period to Symphony as 8th
graders when we prepared to play at
gradua;on.

Transitions that went

especially well

All of my transiMons in middle school went well.

I valued the fact that the mixed choir was all in

one team space and the people in our choir
didn't change much throughout middle school.
I think they all went well. I could transi;on
good from orchestra to choir to chorale.

Transitions that went

especially well

Not personally. However, I teach now and I see that some of

the kids in orchestra don't really know how to read notes. I
think basic note-reading should be emphasized in
elementary school.
Going from middle school to high school, the
focus level was dierent depending on which
band you were put into

Transitions that were

unsatisfactory

All the ;me. I play the trumpet, and there are many dierent
approaches to playing the trumpet.

I oMen get conic;ng advice from dierent teachers. It
confuses me, but I think that this is a good thing. I can try
out the dierent methods and nd the approach that's right
for me.

SiMing through conic;ng advice also teaches me self-
condence and skep;cism.

Were there times when musical concepts,

information or skills from different sources led
to confusion?

It wasn't really un;l I got older when I started ques;oning

the purpose of music and inten;ons.

The idea of becoming a teacher was never discussed in full
with me or career op;ons involving music in my life so I had
issues apprecia;ng my love for music. I thought it was
useless because it didn't seem like a "useful" career to
pursue. I think career op;ons need to be discussed as well
for the arts in general.

Prac;ce and skill issues in private lessons were usually due to
personal reasons, laziness

Were there times when musical concepts,

information or skills from different sources led
to confusion?

We also asked
Do you have suggestions or thoughts on how
we could improve Music at Punahou?

Be more open to student input so that we have a say

in the type of songs we want to play/style of music
we want to try. If we are able to play music we like
and have fun playing, we're more likely to stay in
music courses and actually enjoy being in them.
I think a greater variety of courses would be
good. For example an acapella class, a class
where students learn to perform acous;c
versions of pop songs - any kind of class where
kids are encouraged to be crea;ve outside of the
usual choir/orchestra/jazz labels. Moreover, I
think students would be more engaged in music if
they could learn songs they genuinely enjoy and
had input in choosing.

I know it's not something that can really be helped,

but I really wish I could've con;nued music AS WELL
as taking courses in the visual arts.

I think it's predy good--although it'd be nice if quartet

could somehow be made into an addi;onal academic
course, so that each person enrolled in quartet would
have a designated ;me each cycle to meet and prac;ce
together. I realize that's probably impossible to do, but
if there were SOMETHING analogous to that it'd be
really nice.

I think that it would be beder to get the students

playing a specic instrument from fourth grade
instead of Mh grade. This earlier exposure to
serious musicianship would help to encourage
music later in life.

Also, advoca;ng daily prac;ce is very useful to get
kids used to their instruments and also important
to help them improve.
A recording studio on campus would be great. Also
prac;ce rooms for any instrument/group, not just
small rooms for a couple band kids or aMer school
Bishop.

Maybe make it less compe;;ve. To be in band or

orchestra you have to be really good and that's
why I quit in sixth grade. Just wasn't enjoyable for
me.
It is good. Keep the diculty of the music up
to make it stand out from other schools
around the na;on.

Music exploraMons type course for the Academy

To improve Music at Punahou, although

there is already a large variety of courses, a
few more courses, maybe with one focused
on contemporary music

I'd love it if there were more courses in music

other than just choir. I've always wanted to learn
how to sing jazz music or be a part of a hip band.
It would be so much more interes;ng if there
were "cooler" music op;ons.

I am very apprecia;ve of the ;me I've been at Punahou and

the musical skills I've learned, don't get me wrong. I just wish
the arts were more appreciated at the school. It's something
"cool" when you're younger but later on it becomes a
"introverted ac;vity".

It's that the arts and expression classes are given less merit
than the hard sciences and sports.

Perhaps requiring a more interac;ve component to the music
curriculum would be helpful. Or insert a peer tutoring/helping
class/club/etc. for the academy students.

Having the opportunity to teach (not a lot of kids get to) made
me realize it's actually rewarding to do so.

I think this survey and follow up conversa;ons will be a good

rst step. Merely listening to the opinions of students will
reduce a lot of the tension for students who may not always
feel that they have a voice or that their voice is being valued.

Comments &
Reflections