Across the country, music education programs are being celebrated as March is recognized as Music In Our Schools Month.
The Fayetteville-Manlius School District has a number of upcoming opportunities for the community to enjoy and celebrate the musical talents of the district’s students.
Throughout March, there are band, orchestra and choral concerts scheduled for various grade levels, as well as the always popular annual spring musical at F-M High School and Wellwood Middle School’s Variety Show.
Check the district’s online calendar for the most updated event information. Each school maintains its own school-specific google calendar, which may be accessed from the links on the right side of the main calendar page.
Music In Our Schools Month, or MIOSM, is the National Association for Music Education’s (NAfME) annual celebration that engages music educators, students and communities from around the country in promoting the benefits of high quality music education programs in schools.
The New England Journal of Higher Education cites six primary benefits of receiving a music education: enhanced language capabilities, improved memory, strengthened hand-eye coordination, powerful study habits, teamwork and heightened mental processing and problem solving.
F-M has a long-standing tradition of stellar music education programs. The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation has repeatedly named the district one of the nation’s “Best Communities for Music Education in America,” most recently in March 2019.
F-M was among 623 school districts to receive the designation from the NAMM Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates active participation in music-making. The 2020 list has yet to be announced.