Grimsley Senior High School marching band performs on Halifax Mall for Arts in Education Week
Gov. Josh Stein recently declared Sept. 13-19 as “Arts in Education Week” in North Carolina, describing arts education as an “essential element of a complete and well-rounded education for all students.” Arts in Education Week is a national week of annual celebration led by Americans for the Arts.
According to data from the North Carolina Arts Education Leadership Coalition, there were 1.1 million students in the state involved in the arts in the 2021-22 school year. However, more than 23,000 students across 91 different schools lacked access to arts education, according to that data.
One of the facets of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) strategic plan to make the state No. 1 in the nation for education is to prepare each student for their next phase of life, including by expanding access to arts education.
“As we take this week to honor the teaching of arts and education, we celebrate the dedicated educators who bring the arts to life in classrooms and across our state and affirm our commitment to ensuring that all students have access to high-quality arts learning,” said North Carolina Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green in a video message this week.
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‘A massive family’: Grimsley marching band creates community through music
For Arts in Education Week, DPI hosted several events to recognize how schools across the state expose students to the arts. For the fourth year in a row, school music groups were invited to perform on Halifax Mall in Raleigh, which sits next door to DPI’s offices, the General Assembly, and the legislative office building.
Grimsley Senior High School’s marching band, from Guilford County Schools, performed on Halifax Mall on Tuesday. The 108-person band treated the crowd to their rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner,” excerpts from their new show, and several stand tunes they play at football games.
At the beginning of the performance, not many people stood outside on the lawn. But as the band started up with their music, a crowd soon gathered, drawn outside by the lively songs.
Director of Bands for Grimsley Senior High School Jeremy Ray thanked the onlookers for coming and for supporting the arts, adding that an arts education is “life-changing.”
Marching band, Ray told EdNC, “is about community, and it’s about building excellence within that, caring for each other, and being inclusive. And it doesn’t matter who those people are. We are there for them.”
Drumline captain Malcolm Bruce, a senior at Grimsley, told EdNC that the band is defined by their “energetic” culture.
“Everybody has energy all the time about pretty much everything that we ever play — the drumline, the winds, the trombones — everyone. You’ve always got to play your absolute loudest,” said Bruce.
Another student, Arnav Mohan, drum major and senior at Grimsley, told EdNC that being a part of the band helped him to make friends when he started high school, saying their band is like a “massive family.” Several other students echoed that sentiment, saying they found their core group of friends through band.
“It’s really amazing what playing music together can do — it brings people together, people that you never thought you’d meet ever,” said mellophone section leader Sam Adachi, a junior at Grimsley. “And those connections stay with you forever.”
Guilford County Schools Director of Arts Leigh Ann Little said the music program at Grimsley is one she witnessed continue to succeed during and after the pandemic.
“Performing arts took a hit in the pandemic. It was all we could do to advocate for them to be able to perform and play safely,” said Little. “And they’re one of the programs who is still continuing to grow and be robust and survive and thrive.”
Ray explained that the success his band saw was due to their emphasis on engaging students and collaborating with the music educator team at the middle school, creating a cohesive program that students want to participate in.
He went on to say that band is not a place that allows perfunctory performance. Students must learn all of their music and play their best, always. And when they do that, they grow — both as musicians and people.
“It teaches them to fulfill their requirements, and it teaches them to be the best possible version of themselves,” said Ray.
To receive the benefit of band, though, students have to continually show up. Not only does their place in band encourage them to be present at school — which supports the reduction of chronic absenteeism that the state has emphasized recently — but it teaches them discipline because of the huge time commitment band requires.
Several members of the Grimsley marching band talked about the group’s practice schedule, which for some students can be two hours every day after school. And, of course, the band attends every single football game, home and away, to support their school’s team. Ray told EdNC that the band starts rehearsals in the very beginning of August.
Joining the marching band at Grimsley, or any school, is no small thing. But it can change the trajectory of a student’s life — building connections, improving mental health outcomes, and more.
“You will absolutely not regret it if you choose to (join the marching band). It’s the most fun you will ever have. Four years of doing this will make you a better person,” said Bruce. “There’s absolutely no better place.”
More on arts education in NC
Celebrating arts in education
Lori Karlin, section chief for social studies and arts education at DPI, said the arts encompass every single other educational standard — incorporating history, math, literature, and even science.
“But that doesn’t negate the importance of the arts in and of themselves,” said Karlin.
For example, Brandon Roeder, the K-12 Music and Theatre Arts consultant at DPI, said arts education teaches pluralistic thought, creativity, and even self-reliance.
Green, in his message wishing the state a happy Arts in Education Week, emphasized the importance of the arts for preparing students for their future.
“The arts are not a bonus or a luxury. They are a right for each of our 1.5 million public school students in North Carolina,” said Green. “Let’s continue to champion arts education as a core part of preparing our students to be thoughtful, empathetic, creative, and innovative leaders of tomorrow.”
Susan Heiserman, executive director of the North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA), said her group has continuously advocated for expanding access to arts education for students in North Carolina.
In the last budget cycle, they worked to pass House Bill 418, the K-5 Performing and Visual Arts Requirement, which would “require all K-5 students to have regular performing arts and visual arts classes taught by licensed arts teachers,” according to Heiserman. However, the provision was never passed by either legislative chamber. As the long session approaches, she said that this type of bill will be one of NCMEA’s main focuses.
“It’s crucial that the younger kids, especially, have access to give the arts a try,” said Heiserman. “And if we don’t have that foundation, then our programs in the upper grades are going to suffer as well. And every kid deserves that chance.”
To explore more of DPI’s celebration of Arts in Education Week, click here.