Community Outreach Ideas for Music in Our Schools Month

• Ask a shopping center to schedule student performances to celebrate Music In Our Schools Month.
• Have students list ways that music is a part of their everyday lives. Have them compare lists with friends and family members.
• Have each student interview family members about what their favorite songs were when they were the same age as the student.
  Create musical family trees with the information.
• Schedule a special performance at your school. Invite a professional performer or a group of community musicians to perform for your students.
• Ask your local symphony or community band to get involved by including students in a MIOSM concert or event.
• Take students to perform at the senior citizens' center or nursing home , or invite these groups to your school for a special concert.
• Coordinate WLC and MIOSM activities to include local Tri-M and Collegiate MENC chapters.
• Invite the community to a music class open house . This is an opportunity to feature the basic educational role of music in our schools, rather than to focus entirely on the performance aspect of music.
• Create an "adopt a musician" program through the local adult day care or senior center. Have students adopt a senior and spend some time interviewing them about what musical experiences they have had during their lives.
• Contact your local school board association and invite its members to visit or participate in your MIOSM/WLC activities.
• Develop partnerships with your local arts agencies and/or arts organizations to coproduce an event around the WLC.
• Have a local arts agency sponsor a symposium/workshop for parents on the value of music education and/or arts education. Present research information or hands-on activities.

Provided in partnership with NAfME