OPINION

It’s time to stand up for the arts

T.R. Shaw
Guest columnist

In what was called the “American Century” we built railroads, created the automobile and the highway system. We built aircraft and went from early flight to landing a man on the moon all within a one hundred year period.

We cured diseases, won two World Wars and advanced civilization more than we did in the previous thousand years. Historically, the world has turned to us for a glimpse of the future; not so much anymore.

Late in the 20th century that began to slip away as other industrialized nations caught up with us. We ceded our high ground of science, technology, and innovation to Asia and Europe and we saw our educational base in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM Education) fall behind.

The Obama administration embraced STEM education as a targeted goal of the Department of Education. It was to be “Education to Innovate and Inspire.” In 2009 only 16 percent of K-12 students were involved in any form of STEM education and nearly 57 percent of those students were projected to lose interest before they graduated.

In 2014 the Department of Education invested $3.1 billion of federal money in the areas of K-12 computing, traditional engineering, physical science, and mathematics. It’s not clear if that investment has paid off, but hopefully it’s shoring up our global education deficit. Let’s hope the Trump administration sees the merit in STEM education as a global competitive issue.

In the U.S. there are 2.5 STEM-related jobs for every non-STEM bachelor’s degree earned. Obviously there’s a great need for STEM education. Michigan is rated as “average” in STEM education. Massachusetts leads the nation as “best” in STEM, followed closely by New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and surprisingly, Minnesota. Michigan can do much better in this arena.

One way Michigan and our area can improve STEM education is to embrace a new movement of “STEM to STEAM.” Simply put its STEM + Art and Design = STEAM. Art is missing in the larger picture of STEM education.

STEM to STEAM is a movement championed by the Rhode Island School of Design and the concept is catching on and being adopted by many schools, institutions, and corporations; all whom see the value of art in a comprehensive educational system and a factor in global competitiveness.

Their website www.stemtosteam.org highlights many studies that show how involving students in the arts, especially at a young age, greatly increased their aptitude for science and technology and helps keep kids interested in education. In short, the arts create better people. Isn’t this what education is striving for?

The main tenants of STEM to STEAM are to transform Research Policy to include Art and Design, encourage Art and Design in K-20 education and encourage industry to hire more Artists and Designers to drive economic innovation. It’s a concept that is starting to pick up “steam” and rightfully so. Think about the “art” that went into designing the Mackinac Bridge and other great engineering structures today.

Locally, we know the struggle public schools are facing. Arts and music are easy targets as “frivolous” when dealing with tight budgets. Often these programs are the first to go when times get tough.

Battle Creek is fortunate when it comes to arts and especially music. For the past four years, the Brass Band of Battle Creek has created a Youth Brass Band and reached out to area schools. This Youth Brass Band brings together the top high school bandsmen to learn from the professional mentors in the BBBC. The results of this movement have been overwhelming and positive. Already alumni of the YBBBC are now playing in the University of Michigan and Michigan State Marching Bands. One alumni credited the YBBBC as the factor that landed him a spot in the Michigan band as a freshman. Several former youth band members are now enrolled in top-level music programs at major colleges and universities.

Battle Creek also has the Music Center of South Central Michigan and the vibrant Community Music School, teaching music skills to every age and experience level. The Center also oversees the Battle Creek Symphony, the oldest symphony orchestra and arguably the best in Michigan. Both the BBBC and the Symphony put on Young People’s Concerts free of charge each year. For many kids this is their first exposure to the power of music.

While the politics of public funding for the arts plays out nationally, the need to maintain vibrant arts in our schools is paramount for creating leaders and “Making America Great Again.” As Federal dollars likely evaporate, the need for personal and private investment will grow exponentially.

What can we do? We can advocate for STEAM programs as an educational priority and demand that arts of all kinds, stay in the schools. We can attend and support art and cultural events here in our community, buy tickets and take advantage of world-class music right here; there’s lots of it. We can take responsibility and invest by picking up the slack as public money disappears, and we can encourage kids to take up music and expose them to the arts.

If we want government out of our lives, we need to ante up and support what’s important, before it’s too late. We need to keep building the “STEAM.”

T. R. Shaw Jr. is CEO of Shaw Communication in Battle Creek, Michigan. He is a graduate of Central Michigan University, a former funeral director and Navy public affairs officer, Writer, Columnist, Speaker, and Aspiring Author. He is also serves on the Board of Directors of the Brass Band of Battle Creek. He blogs at: The Reluctant R(L)eader atwww.read-mor.blogspot.com