On Mar. 4, 2016, Editor in Chief Timothy Cho traveled to Penn State University and received First Place from the Scholastic Journalism Competitions organization for his editorial regarding the importance of music education in public schools.
Participants in the Editorial Category were tasked with attending a press conference with Penn State University’s marching band director Gregory Drane and, “write a 200-word editorial on either the press conference as a whole or a particular topic discussed by the speaker, Gregory Drane [and] determine which information is relevant and important to the editorial.”
Speaker bio:
Gregory Drane, a native of Miami, Florida, earned bachelor’s degrees in music education and music performance (saxophone) from Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Holding a master’s degree in music education from Penn State, he has completed his coursework towards a Ph.D. in Music Education, also at Penn State.
Drane directs the Penn State Marching Blue Band and oversees the Athletic Bands program including the Fall Athletic Band (volleyball band), the Pride of the Lions (POTL) basketball pep bands, and the Power Players Hockey pep band. He is active as an arranger and marching band drill designer. In addition to his duties with the Athletic Bands program, he assists with conducting concert bands and is an instructor for music courses offered to non-majors for general arts credit.
Drane is an active researcher with interests in African American contributions to American music education, leadership in the music classroom, and historical music ensembles. He is a member of Phi Mu Alpha and the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association.
By Timothy Cho
Editor-in-Chief
High schools across America are seeing their music education programs being left behind in the wake of decreasing federal funding. However, while music education programs struggle to stay afloat, music education continues to provide students with vital life teachings.
Penn State University’s band director, Gregory Drane, spoke about the importance of music education on March 4, 2016, at Penn State’s main campus.
Having been part of the marching band program since middle school, Drane finds music to be a staple of general education, because as humans, “what defines us is language, communication and music…it’s what we do,” Drane said.
“Music united humans,” and today, it continues to do so. Music provides a common ground for people to share and express themselves, and schools ought to encourage and promote that, not continue to cut funding, making it more difficult to promote creativity.
Whether or not one plays an instrument, they are still a participant, an investor, of music. In any setting, music serves as the guardian of imagination, and in the school environment, music, alongside academics and athletics, allow students to harness their innate talents in new ways.
To Drane, “instruments are just as vital as books and chairs,” and he is absolutely correct. The mind feeds the body, but music feeds the soul. Music is a staple in forging success; it is time for schools to realize and embrace this.
