CFA at CASD

Imagine a house without music. It would be horribly dull! Your TV would be painfully boring. If I had to live like that I would lose my sanity. My living room where everyone plays their instrument would be the worst place ever. The only practical use we have for it is to practice our instruments. The whole house would feel dead. It would still be working, the people inside would still be moving around, but the house would be like the living dead. Or a vegetable—a broccoli, maybe. I hate broccoli.

Now think a bit bigger. What if you don't have music in your neighborhood? The ice cream man wouldn't play music. His ice cream truck would pass by and the kids won't get their ice cream! Sometimes I like to go outside to play my violin but if there were no music then I couldn't play. From time to time when I'm biking I can hear people singing outside and sometimes that is the only reason I'm out biking, to hear people sing. If there was no music, I wouldn't go out biking so much. I would be at home. Which would be a dead home. Like a broccoli. Did I say I didn't like broccoli?

Now think a whole lot bigger. What if you can't hear music in the great glorious Earth. It wouldn't be so glorious anymore. The churches would be silent. Without singing, all you have to listen to is the priest's sermon. I'm willing to listen to the priest, but only if I can sing afterward. Otherwise, church would be like broccoli.

During CASH's football games, we would have to recite the national anthem, not sing it. How about half-time? The cheerleaders would be two left feet without music—no offense, cheerleaders. They would be jumping and waving their arms quietly and it wouldn't be as fun. People will probably still go, but it wouldn't have as much team spirit, it wouldn't be as alive. Like broccoli.

Those street singers in New York would still be sitting in the streets, but not singing. The karaoke clubs in Tokyo would be replaced by something a whole lot more boring, like maybe banks. The techno and peppy disco parties would be more quiet. Everyone would be depressed, or doing something else—reading. Well, probably not. I like reading, but most people I know don't. They would be watching TV, or texting on their cellphones, or playing with their DS games. I do these things too, but without any music there's something missing. The whole world would be one big green boiled broccoli, without salt. Yuck.

Now imagine they take away the music program in our schools. Maybe we would have more kids spending time learning math or science but they wouldn't be smiling as much. They wouldn't be as happy. Many of them would feel frustrated. If you're good at math or science you wouldn't be as motivated to study hard—playing music is the dessert after a meal of math and science. It's the salt that adds flavor to dull vegetables, like broccoli. If you're having a hard time at math or science you'd be even less motivated to study hard—sometimes playing music is the only reason you put up with math or science.

We wouldn't have any practice classes. We wouldn't have any concerts. We wouldn't have any bands. On Veterans, Christmas and Thanksgiving Day parades there wouldn't be any school bands playing music, just people walking. It would be like a funeral march. Actually, even a funeral march has music. If there were no music in a funeral march, it would be even MORE dead.

Music is everywhere. It should be everywhere. It's even inside you. If you put your hand on your chest, then you would feel the music inside. Try it. What do you feel? If the school board ever took THAT music away, you'd be in big trouble.

But it can't stop, right? You don't want the music inside you to stop. You want it to go on. You want music in Chambersburg schools to go on. Don't let the school board stop the music!