Programs in schools have always been a stressful topic. So many things are taken into account such as the type of school, the amount of kids, the district's budget, etc. What about the public schools, whose job it is to supply kids with the ability to find what they want to do and love and give them those opportunities to explore different programs? So often I am reading about sports teams taking priority over music and art programs when it comes time to vote on the budget. Being the "artsy music kid" myself throughout my K-12 education, this always frustrated me. What did educators see in sports that they couldn't find in the arts? Or did they not even bother to look? These are questions that I found myself along with my peers asking ourselves throughout high school. Art and music were where I found myself and my desire, starting in elementary school all the way through high school. The stage became my home, just as many athletic kids found their hearts on the field.

It has been proven that music helps with language development, enhancing our natural abilities to decode sound. It's been shown that musical training physically develops the left side of the brain, linked with language development. There have also been cases of children taking music lessons and having higher IQs than those who didn't take lessons. Along with these effects, music also helps with spacial-temporal skills (the ability to visualize elements that go together). Being a music student, I am an advocate for the arts playing a role in budget discussions and remaining an important part in education and in extracurricular activities. This is not to say that sports should be looked at as any less or be removed from schools.

Sports is to the athletic student as music and art is to me. Why should either of us have to give up our outlet and what we love? So often the argument is sports vs. the arts. Why do we have to pick and choose what we keep available to our children? I am not an educator. I am not a parent. I am a young adult who played the role of the "music kid" growing up, while fearing that my school's budget would take that role away because they saw the funds as more useful for the sports teams year after year. Except now I am a college student studying to receive a degree in music. Just as those sports kids I graduated with are now possibly chasing their dreams to make it to the major leagues. Who decided that sports take priority, and why have so many people supported that way of thinking? I believe that they are equally important, and that they should both be made available in K-12 schools, without fear of one or the other being cut. We need to focus on funding for the benefits of our children, and not the benefits of their programs. Equalize extracurriculars and end favoritism in what they choose to enjoy outside of the classroom.