Culpeper County Public Schools (CCPS) has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. Now in its 25th year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement for providing music access and education to all students.
To qualify for the Best Communities designation, CCPS answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program and community music-making programs. Responses were verified by school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
At the April 2024 School Board Meeting, CCPS Fine Arts Coordinator Tiffany Richtarski shared the news of this exciting recognition with the Board. She also highlighted fine arts programming across the school division, from elementary through high school including a video that showcases events from the 2023-2024 school year. Culpeper Middle School (CMS) fine arts students shared their excitement about the NAMM award, Anna Bywaters-Baldwin, 8th Grade CMS Choir Student said, "I believe that the NAMM award is important because it provides an opportunity for students and teachers to get the recognition they deserve for their motivative contributions. This award could even change a student’s perspective on the arts. This is the kind of recognition that helps students become more invested in their musical journey." Classmate Rian Hutchison, 8th Grade Choir Student, thanks the teachers for the award, saying, ""The NAMM Best Communities for Music Education Award is important because it symbolizes the importance of musical education, our hard work, and our ambitions. Culpeper received this award because of the amazing teachers and their devotion."
View the video:
Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music: After two years of music education, researchers found that participants showed more substantial improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers and that students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school but also to attend college as well. In addition, everyday listening skills are stronger in musically trained children than in those without music training. Significantly, listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep sounds in memory. Later in life, individuals who took music lessons as children show stronger neural processing of sound: young adults and even older adults who have not played an instrument for up to 50 years show enhanced neural processing compared to their peers. Not to mention, social benefits include conflict resolution, teamwork skills, and how to give and receive constructive criticism.
Richtarski was very excited to hear about this recognition. She said, "Congratulations to all of the amazing music programs in our schools! Time and time again, research shows the importance of the Fine Arts in a student's well rounded education. Students who are involved in the Fine Arts are more likely to have higher creative problem solving thinking skills, the ability to work as a team, and be more confident, among many other benefits. Culpeper County Public Schools offer general music at all elementary schools and band, choir, guitar, and piano classes at the secondary levels. Our schools are blessed to have excellent hardworking music staff that always go above and beyond to give their students opportunities to create, thrive, and shine," she said.
Lexi Claveloux, 8th Grade CMS Choir Student, summed it up by saying, "I think the NAMM Award is very important because it awards schools for celebrating music in many different ways. The NAMM award is also important because it gives appreciation to the schools for exposing the kids from a young age to music and giving them a passion for music. I think Culpeper was given this award because we love music, and have many amazing music programs from the choir, to the band, and performing arts."
About The NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 15,000 global member companies and individual professionals worldwide. The foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving, and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visit www.nammfoundation.org.