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About this issue
Dear Reader:
The arts, in every form, delight our senses and enrich our world. Does anything come close to the emotion you experience from the unscripted drama of your 5-year-old’s first performance on stage (whether he opens his mouth or not)? The screeching of the violin of my own kindergarten artist fills my heart with joy, even as it fills my house with “music.” If you are in need of inspiration as we hit the gloomy February weather, look no further than this issue. Could there be a community of parents and educators who continually act on their inherent values and concerns as much as ours? This issue highlights vital work of dedicated individuals who keep arts education alive and thriving when budgets force schools to slash their arts programs.
Lisa Fitzhugh and Ron Rabin’s Voice column (“Why the arts are crucial to your child’s development,” page 9) reminds us in part that our children must have “access to the arts as a means of discovering his or her own best self, since you know that will offer an excellent chance at happiness.” And Lynn Eisenhauer, a K-12 arts facilitator for Tacoma Public Schools, tells us that if she can lure a kid in the door to sing, she can eventually motivate him in his academics (“A heart for the arts,” page 31).
Experts tell us that the arts are critical to our kids’ development. Eisenhauer, like many unsung heroes mentioned this month, sees her role as “keeping administrators aware that it’s possible to continue to provide arts education even in the midst of highstakes testing. I believe we can do it. But someone’s got to be going to bat for it.”
And that someone is you!
You also showed your amazing passion for your most important job (parenting) last month as hundreds of you arrived at BCC for our first (but certainly not last!) Preschool Preview Night (www.parentmap.com/preview.htm). We hope you’ll join us on February 28th for the kick-off of our Pathways lecture series, when Dr. John Gottman gives his amazing talk that I will never miss, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. See you there!
—Alayne Sulkin, Publisher/Editor