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PHALON'S FILE - 5/28/2008
(by Joe Phalon - OpEd Columnist - May 28, 2008)
Pequannock music: Tops in the nation
What’s it like to be one out of 100? In this case, pretty good.
The Pequannock Township School District has been named one of the “100 Best Communities for Music Education” in the United States by the NAMM Foundation.
NAMM, a nonprofit organization based in Carlsbad, Calif., that promotes and supports music in schools, surveyed thousands of districts across the country to determine the top 100. Factors considered included funding, class participation, facili-ties and the level of private music lesson participation.
The most important, factor, however, was cumulative of all the others: Support for music from the community, and in that respect, Pequannock is one of the top in the nation.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I have one son in the middle school program and one in the high school program. But with almost 250 students enrolled in voluntary programs in the middle school and almost the same number in the high school, that means there are almost 1,000 other parents like me in Pequannock Township. That’s pretty good company.
And the results are there to be seen. Just last week, all five music groups of the Pequannock Valley Middle School program won the highest honors at the High Note Music Festival in Allentown, Pa. This is second year in a row they swept the competition. That includes the sixth, seventh and eighth grade bands, the choir and the orchestra.
Last fall, the Pequannock Township High School Marching Band won first place in multi-state United States Scholastic Band Association competition in Giants Stadium, where they brought home the Yamaha Cup, one of the most prestigious national awards in high school band competition. And they won it in Giants Stadium. Yes, the Super Bowl Champion Gi-ants got to share their field with our own champions.
And there were any number of other awards for all the high school programs this past school year. The efforts of the hundreds of students who voluntarily join and work hard to bring pride to themselves and their school is evident when you walk in the trophy-lined choir and band rooms at Pequannock Township High School.
It would not be inaccurate to say that more than a few elements of the curriculum in the district are in a period of “transition.” The music program is one area that has historically done well, and judging from the high school program, and the musicians on their way up from the middle school, it’s going to that way for the foreseeable future.
But don’t take my word for it. Come see for yourself. This Friday, May 30, the PTHS Jazz Band will be performing at the high school (with special guests Latin Express and They YEA Big Band). Close your eyes for a moment and you won’t believe they are just high school students. You’ll know why Pequannock Township earned the recognition of the FAMM Foundation. It’s an award meant to be shared by the whole community, because as any music instructor will tell you, they could not do what they do without support. Take a bow. Then come listen Friday at 7 p.m.
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