Falls Elementary School sixth-grader Adriana Christianson describes choir class as a place she can be the person she wants to be.
She recently wrote these words in an essay titled “What does choir mean to me?”
“It’s a place where I can feel like I’m somebody important, somebody special, and even more than anything else, the person I wish I could be outside, not just with my friends,” Christianson wrote. “It’s a place where I can, and a lot of other people can, stand out and be that person they want to be. It’s that place where people can come together and be happy.”
Feelings like this about music, band and choir classes are commonplace around the International Falls School District — students and parents feel music sharpens students’ minds in other subjects; teaches life skills such as teamwork, responsibility, patience and perseverance; and is an outlet for expression that promotes mental health — all part of a well-rounded education.
But many people now worry about the future of music in the International Falls community. Student scheduling limits access to music electives. Options are not as available as they once were — over the years came the elimination of many once-booming music groups and extracurricular activities like marching band, swing choir and glee club. And as the city population declines, community members are concerned about the future of music education, and its impact on music in the area overall.
Jessie Laurion is one of the community members with concern. She’s a retired Falls music teacher who also directed church choirs and gave piano lessons, and is a member of Tuesday Musicale. She attended the Falls district and was an active student in the music department. Then her seven kids went through the program and now, a few of her 16 grandchildren take music at the district.
“The numbers (of students in the music program) have dwindled, and it makes me very, very sad,” Laurion said. “It makes a lot of people sad.”
With the belief that strong music opportunities are crucial to the community, Laurion has recruited members of the public and current music students as part of a committee to help support music education. She fears if something isn’t done, access to music education will continue to decline. She’s talked to school officials, teachers and researched other school districts’ music programs — by numbers of students participating, class schedule structures and extracurricular activities offered.
Over time, one of the most illustrative events showing the decline in music opportunity in the community, Laurion said, is the Falls 4th of July parade — which no longer features a marching band, since its riddance years ago.
“That’s when it hits people the most. The student interest in music is there — but the opportunity isn’t,” Laurion said. “I would hate to see the opportunity continue to decline for young people, because these experiences have been life-changing for some kids.”
Jeannie Strand, head of the music department and music and band teacher for the Falls school district, also attended school at the district. She remembers the array of options offered — marching band, jazz band, concert band, pep band, orchestra, swing choir, concert choir, pop choir and glee club.
Going back further, a 1946-47 Falls High School year book also features an orchestra, clarinet trio, string ensemble, clarinet quartet, girls’ trio, a band group called Kindling Splitters and pep squad in addition to pep band.
Today, there is concert band and choir at the junior high and senior high levels, jazz band at the high school level, and pep band as an extracurricular activity.
Scheduling music
In the classroom, elementary students have the option of taking band and choir during their “free hour” — there is no time set aside specifically for that class. During that hour, students can also take art or stay in their classroom to work on homework.
At the junior high and high school levels at Falls High School, a six-period day gives students the option of one or two electives, depending on their grade level and whether they take remedial math or science. Many students cannot fit music into their schedule if they choose to take an advanced science or math class in preparation for college, or if they are placed in remedial math or reading due to low standardized testing scores. Art, technology education and second-language classes can also be chosen over music. Those who want to take both band and choir must make sure they don’t clash with other classes they need.
At a July school board meeting, parent Chris Foreman asked the school board to consider changing the high school schedule to include a seventh period, explaining that students shouldn’t have to choose between band and choir, or band and Spanish — two classes that are offered at the same time slot.
“Our students need seven periods to be competitive in the college application process,” Foreman said to the board at the July meeting. “In keeping six periods, we fall below the standards set by most other schools in the state.”
Changing to a seven-period day, or flexible scheduling, is at the heart of the current teachers’ union and district negotiations on new teacher contracts. The board negotiating committee has proposed the change, and the teachers’ union has not agreed. The two sides are currently in mediation.
Laurion feels strongly that the scheduling structure causes students to “give up” music classes, she said.
“Not having a seven-period day definitely hurts the music program,” she told The Journal, adding that the high school had a seven-period day until at least 2003. “There was a choir of at least 100 kids at the time.”
There are now 84 students in elementary band and 16 in elementary choir. At the junior high level, there are 30 students taking music, and 17 at the senior high level.
“It’s tough coming from Littlefork, where the kids had more electives there,” said Falls High School band teacher Michelle Boelk, who used to teach at Littlefork-Big Falls School. “And if they stay out of (music classes) for a year, what’s the likelihood that they’ll come back?”
Lizz Strandberg, choir teacher for the Falls district at various grade levels, said the struggle to make a choice of an elective at the high school level is evident by the numbers of students taking music.
“The numbers (of music students) go down as they get older,” Strandberg said, adding that the benefit of music stays steady. “The different senses — doing, seeing, hearing — all add to their intelligence.”
Benefits of music
Music teaches listening, analyzing, evaluating, history, world cultures and math among other areas, said Strand, Boelk and Strandberg, the three who make up the Falls music teaching team.
“The moving, composing, reading the notes — we really take everything else when we take music,” Boelk said.
Self-esteem and emotional health are promoted through music, Strand said. Laurion agrees she’s seen first-hand the health benefits music can bring.
“Music is a real therapy for kids — tensions are released when they play,” Laurion said. “Plus it’s very disciplinary, it’s a very demanding thing, but it’s fun. It’s fun to be with a group, perform together, have pride in your group and pride in your school.”
It’s an activity that helps students feel a sense of belonging, she added.
This is shown in the essays elementary students wrote about what band and choir mean to them, the teachers said.
Brittany Foss, a Falls sixth-grader, wrote about band teaching her about teamwork.
“If you were missing an instrument, there’s a big chunk missing in the band. And there would be a part missing in the music,” Foss wrote. “Band also means family. We stick together, and when all of us are combined, we create a beautiful, elegant piece of music that warms people’s hearts.”
Band is the best part of sixth-grader Nick Foreman’s day, he wrote.
“Instead of sitting in study hall, I get to play music on my trumpet,” he wrote. “I get to play things I recognize, and a lot of things that I don’t...but it also means things to me at home. I get to play some of my sister’s pep band music and sometimes play my mom’s French horn.”
Felicia LaRue, a fifth-grader, wrote she loves to sing, and that she sang her first song at age 1.
“I need to get better at singing, because I am not a real good singer,” LaRue wrote. “I will do anything to be a singer. Because I love to sing and that is that.”
Music can help alleviate problems and conflicts within schools, Laurion added.
“You hear about all this bullying, and I don’t have any real statistics to prove this, but I’m convinced that if they had more choices to offer kids, it could help with discipline problems,” she said.
Making it work
Strand, head of the music department, understands that with a decline in school population, programs are reduced or eliminated. Still, it’s disappointing she said.
“We want to see the numbers grow (in music) at the high school — junior high and senior high,” Strand said. “One way would be to open up more electives. Will that be the magic solution? I don’t know, but it’s worth a try.”
Earlier this year, with the restructuring of the elementary grades swapping between West End Elementary and Falls Elementary, there was a possibility that the music rooms would be eliminated, and the program would operate “music on a cart,” Strand said, bringing her concern to the school board.
However, space for the music rooms is no longer a problem, according to elementary Principal Jerry Hilfer. The budget cuts and reduction in class sections allowed for more space, he said.
“Our space problem has been solved,” Hilfer told The Journal.
In fact, next school year there will be an additional music room with the change, he said. West End Elementary School students used to attend music class at the high school. Next year, they’ll have their own music room at West End, increasing the number of music rooms in the district to three.
“This is a home to them — they walk in and it’s theirs,” Strand said about the music classrooms. “They feel ownership of it. They have moments of togetherness as a family; it’s a wonderful feeling.”
The music staff has been working around the scheduling issues to help students have access to music education. For students with scheduling conflicts, Boelk said she has helped high school students who want to be in band to rehearse, perform and keep learning outside of school hours. But as student schedules get busier, juggling several activities, maintaining consistent music education outside of school hours is not easy, she said.
“Any time you have to make a lot of effort, it’s very easy to say I don’t want to do it anymore,” Strandberg said of the dilemma.
Laurion said she will keep working on ideas to keep opportunities for music education in place. Tuesday Musicale is having an increasingly difficult time finding students for music camp scholarships — something she thinks is tied to accessibility to music education at the district.
When she goes to school concerts, she gets more inspired to help make a change, she said.
“There is excitement in the students, you can see it from the concerts they put on,” Laurion said. “Just seeing the enthusiasm made me feel bad that we can’t continue to grow the music program, and keep the skill going. The need for it is great.”
