To the Editor;
Music and arts have been the hardest hit and longest shuttered factions of our society during this pandemic. The impacts are paralleled in our local school departments. Music students have been restricted from ultimately life affirming IRL experiences where harmony and collaboration are key components.
DESE guidelines were updated as of March 1, and for the first time in our 2020-2021 district calendar we will begin to implore the school department to roll out the changes and support our students in compliance. The momentum has been building for the students, teachers, and parents whose “sport” is music, and with only three months left in the school year, there is still so much to be done.
Friends of Old Rochester Music (FORM) is the nonprofit booster group benefitting music students in the JHS and HS, and we raise money for student enrichment activities, travel expenses, instruments, competition expenses, and scholarships for graduating seniors. This year we have had zero practices, which translates to zero performances, which translates to zero commercial ads sold for concert programs, zero ticket sold, and zero opportunity for the magic that happens when a musical group collaborates in front of a live audience. There is something about live music that inspires love and compassion and connectedness. Personal, real time contactless contact.
Rica Brodo, FORM President
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