Recognizing a student’s achievements is one of the best ways to encourage growth, whether academically or in extracurriculars. This can be seen school-wide manifested in Stellar Student Shoutouts and Athlete of the Week Shoutouts. While many students have the opportunity to acquire these shoutouts, it still excludes much of the student body. More opportunities must be made available for recognition which reflect students’ strengths. One group worthy of recognition within the school are student musicians.
Within the Fine Arts Department are hundreds of students involved in band, orchestra, chorus and drama, as well as the many smaller ensembles associated with these larger groups. These students put countless hours into their musical passions just as athletes do into their respective sports. The result of these hours spent practicing are award-winning musicians and ensembles to represent the school. With this in mind, it is essential these students are recognized.
Though many musically involved students get greater in-school practice time than those involved with athletics, perfecting an instrument takes more time than can be offered in a single 40-minute period. Student musicians often spend time preparing concert repertoire, audition pieces, solos and extracurricular music involvements beyond the school day. In addition to their other responsibilities and involvements, the dedication to a student’s instrument can stand out as being something which they are truly passionate about.
Just like other extracurricular pursuits, music is something many students seek to pursue beyond high school. Encouragement and reassurance that their efforts and talents are recognized can drive these students to continue the pursuit of their instrument where they may have otherwise been on the fence.
In all, recognition is important for all groups of students as a motivator to continue their passion and interests and for generally uplifting them. While it isn’t feasible to have every single student recognized, there are more opportunities which can be taken in order to make regular recognition of upstanding students a more frequent occurrence.
