How Important is Arts Education? The New York Times Asks Students

From The Learning Network of The New York Times, comes How Important is Arts Education?, by Katherine Schulten.

As a follow-up to Chloe Veltman’s recent piece on how youth choirs are flourishing despite cuts in arts education, Schulten asks the students to respond to:

Does your school offer classes in music, drama, dance or the visual
arts? What experiences have you had with arts classes yourself, whether
in or outside of school? How important do you think arts education is
for students in general? Why?

Here are a couple of excerpts from the responses:

My favorite class in all of my high school career was probably my music
theory class in junior year. The class was a blissful break from the
typical structure of the typical math and science class. It taught me,
not only as a musician, but as a student, to be a more creative and
resourceful human being.

Important? Absolutely! In fact I wrote an entire paper for my Argument
Class on the subject that might be interesting for ya’ll. http://www.creativetutors.com/b2evo/blog1.php/2010/09/06/why-teach-the-arts

And, in the category of bigger is always better, here’s a picture of my 200 plus member Junior High School Chorus. Take that, Glee!