At a recent Troup County Board of Education meeting, we were informed that the board must cut about $4.1 million next year in order to keep a balanced budget for the school system. One of the proposed changes is to change West Side Magnet School for the Fine Arts into a regular K-5 elementary school. While understanding the need for budget cuts in the current economy we are in, changing West Side in this manner will impact not only the students who attend the school, but the community as well.
The teachers at West Side are wonderful about incorporating the arts into their classes, which has helped the students learn better. There are so many examples that I can think of, but one of the most recent ones is when the drama teacher, Mrs. Carol Cain, had each child in a particular grade become an immigrant to the United States. Each child “immigrated” by boat to the U.S. from various countries and went through the same trying times that a real immigrant would have gone through. Then, when the students studied immigration in social studies, it came alive for them! Another example is when the students were studying the Civil War, the art teacher, Mrs. Sallie Keith, made a point to show students art and teach them about the artists from that time period.
Also, over half of the members of the LaGrange String Ensemble are students from West Side Magnet School. This is largely due to the fact that each student at West Side gets the wonderful opportunity to learn how to play a string instrument from the orchestra teacher, Mrs. Janet Powell. This group will ultimately feed into the LaGrange Youth Orchestra and the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra in the years to come. While we are so fortunate to have symphony players from the surrounding communities to play in the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra, wouldn’t it be nice to have more and more players from our own city of LaGrange?
The administrators at West Side are also devoted to the fine arts. For example, the new principal, Dr. Cindy McCloud, and the new registrar, Mr. Louis Barnett, have helped us to partner with the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra. The most recent example of this partnership was on Oct. 27, when the LSO declared the night as West Side Night. The entire school community was invited and given discounted tickets for the night and were given a real treat as the orchestra performed “Sorcerers, Witches and Things” for the crowd. Everyone enjoyed the evening.
The following is a quote from an article by Rod Paige and Mike Huckabee and can be found on the Children’s Music Workshop, Music Education Online Web site:
“Research has shown that those who study the arts improve their achievement in other subjects, including mathematics, reading and writing. In math, for example, studies point to a direct connection between music and spatial reasoning and spatial temporal skills, which are important to understanding and using mathematical concepts. For high school students, course-taking data collected by the College Board indicate that students of the arts annually outperform their non-arts peers on the SAT. In 2004, for example, students who studied music scored 40 points higher on the math portion of the test than students reporting no arts coursework. Similarly, students who studied acting and play production outscored their non-arts peers on the verbal portion of the SAT by an average of 66 points.”
For more information, please check out the complete article at the following Web site: http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/artseducation.html.
Based on the research, the community is greatly enriched by having a school such as West Side for our children. When students graduate from West Side and merge with other students in their respective high schools, they will help broaden the base audience of those who appreciate the arts.
The school board will be making its recommendations before Dec. 14 and a public caucus (open forum) will be held at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 14 at the central office on South Davis Road for people to express their concern or propose alternatives to the proposed changes. While we are uncertain of whether or not West Side Magnet School for the Fine Arts will be a part of the proposed changes, we know that it is being strongly considered and pray that it will not be on the list of the final proposed changes. We encourage anyone who wants to show their support for West Side to help us to get the word out about this possible proposal. We would like to have as many as possible to attend the meeting on Dec. 14 as well in order to show their support for West Side Magnet School for the Fine Arts.
Carol Yin
Parent of a student at West Side Magnet School
This also means that for years that we have had this school focusing on arts the taxpayers have made up the extra expenses spent to teach such a pointless area of study.
Yeah it sounds good when you say your child studied art at a young age although it's not very practical in getting a real and sustainable job, as many are finding out now.