Can Music Programs Survive COVID-19?

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedGen Z

[New Contributor]

Even during quarantine, people are still trying to continue activities that have been affected by the virus. Basketball players are practicing at home, teachers are using distance learning applications, and waitresses are learning to wear masks and constantly wash tables. But one often untouched area that is having trouble adapting from quarantine is the school music organizations. Clubs like jazz band and choir have to practice in close proximity with each other in order to practice harmoniously. Now, with quarantine and the new back to school restrictions, the student musicians will have to switch to online rehearsals. 

According to the CDC, COVID-19 is transmitted from person to person through microscopic droplets in the air. Activities like singing or talking in loud voices spread these types of droplets, eliminating the possibility of the choir practicing in proximity with each other. 

With the advent of video conferencing technologies like Zoom, people don’t necessarily need to be in the same room to communicate effectively. Numerous groups have joined together on virtual platforms and sung together already. For CNN’s 2020 graduation special, high school students from the choir joined together to sing the Star Spangled Banner. There are numerous Youtube Channels, such as Quarantine Choir, that continue to sing despite the distance. 

In addition, music teachers have still found ways to continue music lessons. The Choir teacher at Round Rock High School compiled video footage of her students singing and displayed them to the school.

Closing choir has more implications than just for schools. Many religious ceremonies involve singing, such as Sunday Mass at Church. A study found that singing caused 53 of the 61 choir members testing positive and 102 of 130 members of an Amsterdam choir developed COVID-19 after a performance, and four people associated with the choir died. In Austria, 43 of 44 participants in a choir seminar tested positive. 

Regardless of the distance between the musicians, harmony comes with dedicated, supervised practice. In an uncontrolled setting with distractions, dedicated practice is impossible. However, musicians also gain something by practicing at home. In a comfortable, relaxed environment they may be able to play better. Whether good or bad, stay-at-home musicians will give their audience a unique performance as they perform in the comfort, or discomfort, of their own home. 

Similar Read: Guidance Counseling in the Midst of COVID-19

ENTANGLEMENT with DONALD

by with One Comment CultureFeaturedPolitics

Merriam-Webster defines Entanglement as 1a: the action of entangling : the state of being entangled b: something that entangles, confuses, or ensnares 2: the condition of being deeply involved. 

The word entanglement has recently resurfaced due to allegations regarding the famous entertainment couple, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. Jada alleging stepped out on Will. “I was an entanglement with August.” She is speaking of an alleged romantic relationship with R&B and Hip-Hop Soul Artist August Alsina. Whether Jada was involved in an entanglement or non-entanglement makes no difference to me because their personal life does not affect me or my and well-being. So that is not what I am talking about here.

The Entanglement we are all involved in is with the man I call 45, many call him the President of the United States. This is one of the worst entanglements I’ve seen in my lifetime… we’ve allowed this man, a narcissist, to become the most powerful man in the world. I’m not a doctor or therapist, but it seems clear to me that we have given power to a man who not only is a narcissist but also has daddy issues and never felt loved.  

That power, which was given to him when we chose to vote or not vote, allows him to appoint federal judges. He’s appointed far-right federal judges young enough to be on the bench for 40 years… that’s a lifetime to stop or prevent true social justice. That can’t be understated. With the help of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, they’ve put judges on the bench that will cause issues for women, Black and Brown, and LGBTQ communities for decades.

This man refuses to obey the law of the land and Republicans gave him a license to kill… 

Children are still in cages being separated from their families. Families are being deported. Food Assistance is being cut and recipients are currently only getting an average of $17 a month. He is trying to take away health care during a pandemic. Send children back to school without a plan and finances to help these schools, educators, and students. He is pardoning his friends out of prison so they won’t testify against him while others who need to be released are ignored because of their race, socioeconomic status, or political affiliation. He is not the cause of COVID-19 in America, but he is responsible for the rise in cases and unfortunate deaths… 138,000 deaths at the time I wrote this article. American has ¼ of all COVID-19 cases in the entire world due to his bad leadership. He has sold the country out many times by asking foreign governments to get involved in our elections on numerous occasions. A Russian bounty to kill US troops was recently exposed and he did nothing. And he always blames someone else for his constant failures as a leader.

I understand this is a challenging election year. But we as a nation are caught in the entanglement spider web of a mentally-ill, narcissistic, 74-year-old, racist man with daddy issues. Sadly, this election may not bring us the best alternative choice. But I’m hopeful it will give us the chance to get untangled from this leader so that we can begin to address racial injustice, and so many other problems in our society.

Similar Read: 2016 Is About To Happen Again

Education Inevitably Judges Everyone

by with No Comment Education

There should be no doubt in any rational thinking mind that education is how we separate class. In America, education creates a hierarchy. In India, one is born into that class. Here in America, supposedly, you can be born in public housing and go to a low achieving school and still become a millionaire. All you have to do is work hard and pull yourself up by the bootstraps? Um, let’s be honest… that sounds delusional in 2017.

Education is like a rubric, it will be used to judge you. Here in America education is used by society to create a narrative for one to follow. Being that one’s future is scaled based on acquired skills learned in school, it is imperative we understand that schools are not dumping grounds. Therefore, it is very important that Washington and their delegates revolutionize every demographic area, from inner cities to rural America. We should supply all children with the necessary tools needed to hone their skills in every subject area. Our main goal should be social and academic success, regardless of their family’s income or the location of their school district. However, schools continue to heavily weigh math and reading ability, which doesn’t present an accurate picture regarding a child’s potential. Rating these schools ineffective for not reaching “standards” is unacceptable, and it denies them proper resources and/or more incentives to help give children some form of extrinsic motivation to go to school and do well. Some of these schools are truly ineffective; yet, we see students that require special needs education and students who have poor attendance be the primary focal point for determining what nominal funds will be allocated to their school. Why? Well, you have to make excuses to cut money somewhere to spend it elsewhere.

For example… There are three schools in America within a few miles of each other. One school is failing and ineffective and doing much worse than the other two schools. That failing school is going to be phased out and their students will get dumped into the second school, which performs slightly better than the failing school. Now all of a sudden there are two schools in one building forced to share and use the resources meant for one, which over-populates that school and makes each class size larger, subsequently reducing the teacher’s ability to reach each student. This is exactly how students fall behind. Oh, and the third school performs the best so they’re going to get the necessary funding. Now consider this new two-in-one school and the other school that received their funding; which school is going to perform the best moving forward? Why does performance matter? Well, whichever school performs the best is going to get the Mac computers, smart boards, grants for art programming to pay teachers, and so on. It doesn’t take an advanced degree to figure out that the third school is going to continue to perform the best, and the new two-in-one school will probably do worse if you just consider the larger classroom sizes. But why wouldn’t the new two-in-one school with larger class sizes receive the funding? Surely, they need more resources, right? It’s evident that certain kids are left behind regarding the tools and resources needed to academically thrive and keep pace with their generation. Technology is taking over and experimental learning is the way to go. Standard based testing does nothing but perpetuate a bias system, which allows the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer.

The federal government allows states to control the majority of educational funding in an attempt to escape the blame for dismal school systems. So who do we blame… the states, Washington, or both? Bottom line, our school systems are failing many of our children while others prosper and prepare for a competitive job market in an ever-changing economy. Educational segregation is what you call it, and when resources are withheld from groups of people that clearly need them the most we should question leadership and inefficiencies on every level. If education inevitably judges everyone, which seems to the case in our capitalist society, how about we give everyone a fair and equal opportunity to reach their full potential?