Mr. Green’s Opus

On several occasions, this column has focused on the importance of sports to the growth, development and health of our local students.

As mentioned on previous occasions, this newspaper believes sports not only instill pride and teamwork in youngsters. They keep them on a track where they may be less inclined to get in trouble.

In this week's sports section, we include a follow-up on the Cardinals Booster Club's successful fundraising effort for the new press box to which the Times contributed. Club president Ross Hamann reports that with the recent contributions from Les Schwab, Sterling Savings Bank, the WHS Class of '72 and Pacific Power, the goal of bringing in $25,000 has been reached.

However, lest our attention to sports overshadows other equally critical school programs and activities, we're pleased to highlight in our HeartBeat column this week the laudable efforts of music teachers Brad Green and Rebecca Wilson to support the love for music among our students.

Sound and music are doubtlessly among our existence's most magical dimensions.

Beliefs about the power of music, sound and song range from their ability to heal to spiritual transcendence and enlightenment. But more practically, music is just as important as a channel for emotional expression and the development of the brain in children.

Research has shown that musically trained children develop better memory and learning skills. A Canadian experiment in 2005 showed that after training in music for one year, children aged four to six scored higher in tests involving general intelligence skills such as literacy, verbal memory, visiospatial processing, mathematics and IQ.

The research suggested that musical training has an effect on how the brain gets wired for general cognitive functioning related to memory and attention. That's techno speak for making children better students.

And "music" can't just be any noise. Apparently, the brain responds more readily to the sound of a violin than to white noise coming from a television. It's all about melody, harmony and rhythm.

The structural arrangement of musical compositions can be as complex as that of algebraic equations. Studying music encourages organizational skills, "teamwork" among the band members and the development of creative skills such as composition and other pursuits that require similar "engineering" skills.

Educators like Dayton High School Principal Andy Maheras rank music up there with sports as a way to stimulate inclusion and healthy participation among his students as well as the development of cognitive abilities and performance skills. He almost wishes there were as many Wednesday night concerts as there are Friday night football games.

Similarly, Waitsburg School District Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke takes every opportunity to expose her students to music with her support of Green and Wilson, but also special events like this June's performance of the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival at the district.

In tough economic times, we don't want to pressure anyone with a stirring appeal to help the two districts' musical programs financially, although we're sure that kind of support would be more than welcome, following the example of local donors like Ed Lawrence.

Rather, we ask that our readers consider doing something very simple and practical to help our students' musical growth and pursuits: keep your eye peeled.

Contact your schools' music teachers and ask them how you can help them scout for affordable musical hand-medowns. If you have an instrument you seldom use, ask the teachers if they would get more use out of it.

Most of you probably enjoy going to garage sales, shopping for things you can't live without. Next time you stumble onto one or go bargain hunting more intentionally, see if there are any instruments you can help the teachers acquire for their band inventory.