Fine Arts

Alexis Apostalon

Why Are We Pulling These Programs?

Dear Board of Education Members:

I have noticed some movement growing within the public school systems. It’s been festering for a while. It’s been spreading like a disease. Do you know what this plague is? It is the plague of cutting the funding of fine arts from public school systems.

Let me share a little story with you. It was my senior year of high school and I was busy! I was taking I.B. (International Baccalaureate) classes; I was extremely involved with my church and all of its activities; I was a nanny for a family with a daughter who has RETS syndrome; I did ballet and ninjitsu outside of school; and within school, I was a member of the elite choral group, Madrigals, as well as the competing group for our high school, Chamber; I was also the secretary and activities planner for the French Club (often doing more than I should have due to the other leaders’ lack of drive to get anything done); and finally, topping the year off with my involvement in the high school musical production, Oklahoma.

It was a lot; I’m not going to lie. I was quite overwhelmed at times, but the only thing that kept me sane were the two things that I loved to do: sing and dance. More than half of my involvement in those two areas came from participating in the fine arts programs at school. That same year, I also started to hear rumors (which were later confirmed true) that other schools were having their funding cut from their very own fine arts programs. What if my school had taken away these things? I am 100% positive my happiness level would have gone down. Unfortunately, when I am not happy, my productivity also goes down. I doubt I would have made the grades that I did in school or, perhaps, even participated in those other activities to help give me a well-rounded life.

I am not entirely positive why funding is being cut from the fine arts. My supposition is that people don’t want to pay taxes on schooling so much anymore. I mean why would a taxpayer, who is most likely completely done with all types of schooling, want to pay more for schooling after they’ve already paid enough (especially when it comes to college)? It would make a lot more sense if those taxpayers had kids that went to public schools, but a large majority of them don’t have children. And the percentage that does, about half of them send their children to private schools because they think (with good reasoning) that they’ll get a better education. So overall, we’re getting less money for public schools, as you as Board Members are well aware.

So now you are debating on where to cut your funding from, am I right? You can’t just take away from reading, writing, mathematics, or science. Those are the basics that everyone needs. So then it comes down to a vicious battle between the fine arts and sports, and unfortunately, the fine arts departments in many schools are losing. Is it because you think that more people play sports than participate in the fine arts? Is it because you think more people besides high school students can and do enjoy watching high school sports more than any field of the high school fine arts? Or is it because you believe that playing sports leads to greater teamwork and school spirit than the fine arts do?

Well, let me answer those questions from my perspective, a recent high school student who was very active in the fine arts and reaped the benefits of it. To answer the first question, from my experience, there are as many different facets of the fine arts as there are different types of sports, possibly even more. This gives a child more options to choose from, to find their niche and feel comfortable in a place that they can excel. This is important to self-esteem, which I believe to be crucial during that age.

When I was a freshman, I participated in dance team. It was absolutely wonderful! I enjoyed it thoroughly and gained a lot of great experience and knowledge from it. However, due to scheduling conflicts, I was unable to continue with the team. This was devastating, but because I had other outlets, such as choir, I was able to keep my head high and have opportunities for something other than straight schoolwork.

Second question. While it is true that school spirit is often incorporated within football and basketball games and many people enjoy watching them (I have many great memories myself), it is also true that there are people that enjoy watching theater and choral productions, viewing art galleries with paintings and sculptings of high school students, and seeing the handiwork of a multi-media art piece even more than watching a tennis match. Why should we be depriving those fans of their pleasantries?

And to answer the final question of teamwork and skills, I say to you: those skills can be learned just as easily within fine arts programs as sports teams. The fine arts teach a multiplicity of skills that can be used later on in life: creativity, handiwork, hard work, self-imposed goals, entrepreneurship, and yes, even teamwork. If you’ve ever sat in on a choir practice, this will become evident. For a choir to sound great, all the members need to harmonize, make the right vowel sounds and blend. If you are not working on these things outside of practice, they won’t come to you. And if you are not thinking with a creative mind, patterns of musical stanzas will not make sense. Furthermore, those skills will not only be handy for one’s own personal life, but many employers look for well-rounded and balanced people that can add more to their company or business. A background in fine arts can help with that.

To add one final word about the fine arts, which was recently touched upon, but not explicitly said: the fine arts are long lasting. A piece of art can stay with you for as long as you live, if you take good care of it, and can even be passed down to your children and your children’s children. Not only that, as mentioned before, those skills are used throughout your life continually. Sports, which provide similar learned skills, will last forever, but the actual skill of participating in a particular sport is hard-pressed to go passed one’s 20s. Many people are injured and can be taken out of a sport for as short as 6 months or as long as their entire lifetime.

Board members of Education, I am not trying in any way to belittle the sports, but I do feel like the fine arts have been belittled way too often. I believe that their skills have been overlooked. Personally, I believe that everyone needs both: a physical outlet and a creative one. But we do not have the money to fund all of these things. So, in all earnestness, I implore you to keep the fine arts within schools to promote intellectual growth, skill-set, self-esteem and much more.