Whether your K-12 school will restart the 2020-21 academic year with a virtual, blended, or in-person curriculum, music education should be a part of it.
That’s the message Concordia alumnus Matthew Thiel, a music director at Sheboygan Area Lutheran High School, shared with TMJ4’s Mary Jo Ola. Thiel spoke about the importance of music in schools and shared some of the ways he’s adapting his in-person instruction at Sheboygan Lutheran in order to keep music alive and well this upcoming school year.
“I think music really provides an outlet for our students to be able to express themselves emotionally,” Thiel told Ola. “It also allows them to be social in a family and group setting in ways that maybe things like history and science wouldn’t be able to afford.”
The most important thing parents can do if they learn their school district is cutting structured music classes next year, according to Thiel, is advocate for it.
If that doesn’t work, Concordia’s music department chair, Dr. Louis Menchaca, shares some ways parents can supplement their child’s music education at home.
TEACHER RESOURCE: Band or orchestra modifications for all types of COVID classrooms
PARENT RESOURCE: Keeping music education alive during the pandemicÂ
Click here or on the image below to view the full TMJ4 segment.
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