Norman letter: Support high school music

High school music departments are lacking support. There have been many studies that show that music and other creative outlets allow kids to express themselves more and can lead to better concentration, memory, and a more successful academic life. However, throughout all of high school, I observed something that strikes me as unjust. The band, choirs and orchestra struggled to acquire the funding needed for new equipment or to be able to travel for competitions and concerts. Meanwhile, many of the sports teams, most notably the football team, were not in such a bind. The amount of trips and events they held was astounding. This is not to say that sports teams don’t deserve any funding, but distribution of funds needs to be evened out across all extracurricular activities. Music is a tremendously important part of many teenagers’ lives. It’s important to support music departments in schools so that kids involved in them can grow as musicians and performers. Favoritism towards athletics is taking opportunities away from high school aged students of music.

This story was originally published May 8, 2017 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Norman letter: Support high school music."