Our Thoughts

Dear Readers,

We have been working on this project for an entire semester of college and we have learned quite a bit.

In class, we have discussed the lack of funding in schools in the Rochester area. One of the schools with the greatest budget deficit for the coming year is the School Without Walls. Dr. Jones received an email stating this and she shared it with the class to much shock and dismay. While discussing budgetary cuts, the arts in schools would always appear in the conversations, as many of our classmates are music and art education majors.
In her last lecture, Dr. Jones had us look at the differences in rigid, strict public schools ( many of us attend these) versus the liberal, free schools (such as the School Without Walls and the Albany Free School). Many of our classmates, along with ourselves, believed that the school that included the arts would be the most attractive, even if the teaching methods were unconventional. She also brought up the cycle that our education has gone through, from the very strict beginnings to John Dewey's progressive school and back to our public school system. The arts may be eliminated now, she said, but when we realize that no one is creative anymore, they will resurface, shifting us back towards the free school and John Dewey's philosophy.

Our steps toward creating a need for the arts in schools were small, but greatly appreciated and very satisfying. We would certainly do it all again, from our rough beginnings to our smooth center to our fight for our right to perform and through our successful performance. The School Without Walls has expressed an interest in working with us again in the future, and we would absolutely love to! They are all such wonderful people and the students are amazing. This school is truly a diamond in the rough educational environment.

Hopefully, in the future, others will take up our mantel and see the values in funding the arts in our public schools.

"If music be the food of love, play on." ~ William Shakespeare

~ Joelle and Ebony