The Education Foundation of Odessa announced Monday that they are the recipients of a $35,000 grant from the Rea Charitable Trust to purchase approximately 200 string instruments for a new music program for ECISD fifth-grade students.
ECISD plans to roll out the new fifth grade strings program over a three-year period, beginning with the first 10 schools in 2022-23. If further funding is obtained, 10 more elementary schools would have the opportunity to add 5th grade strings in 2023-24, with 5 more schools added in 2024-25.
The Fine Arts Department is ready to advance the fifth-grade strings program and the staff are excited that the program can be offered to all students, even if families cannot afford an instrument, a news release said.
“The importance of music education in the academic, social and emotional growth of students is well documented by scholars. According to research published by The Royal Conservatory in 2014, developing music in young children accelerates the development of speech and reading. Additionally, musical training helps students build their attention span and gain precision in auditory processing. The brains of young musicians have stronger neural connections, better information processing abilities, better memory and improved motor coordination. It is noted that young musicians have higher IQs and more empathy for others as well. The cognitive benefits of training young children in music can be manifested after as few as 20 days of music training. Other benefits of pursing music in elementary school include building positive self-esteem, encouraging better engagement in studies, department, I would like to express our appreciation to the Rae Charitable Trust for its program and bring high quality instruments to our students. Current research shows that
On behalf of the ECISD Fine Arts amazing generosity. With these funds, we will be able to restart our Elementary Strings
music education helps children attain their full intellectual, social, and creative potential. We are so thankful that the Rae Charitable Trust is helping make this more accessible to our ECISD students,” Director of Fine Arts Aaron Hawley said in the release.
