March is an important month for arts awareness in school. Since 1973, March has been named Music In Our Schools Month by the National Association of Music Education, aimed at promoting the benefits of high quality music education programs in schools. Not only does the month of March take the name of Music In Our Schools Month, but it also has been deemed Theatre in Our Schools month. The Theatre in Our Schools campaign is jointly sponsored by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, as well as the Educational Theatre Association and was created to raise awareness of the value of theatre education. Both of these celebrations are aimed toward the fact that quality arts programs make a huge difference in the lives of students of all ages.

 Millbrook High School has an outstanding choral department, an amazing drama department, as well as award winning band and orchestra. Throughout the school, hundreds of students have the chance to express their passions in a safe and happy environment. “I always have a place to go and express how I feel through singing or acting or even dancing,” said sophomore Riley Yates, “It’s not only the program, but its the outlet in which to go if you’re feeling alone.”

 Students involved in the arts have been shown to have an incredible impact on the lives of students and their overall grades. In 2005, students who took four years of arts coursework outperformed their peers who had one half-year or less of arts coursework by 58 points on the verbal and 38 points on the math portion of the SAT. Not only that, but students with a high level of arts involvement are less likely to drop out of school. Training in acting classes also improves language and memory skills. Sadly, more than half of high school theatre teachers have no access to box office, orchestra pit, and costume shop resources. For more information on this subject check out the Educational Theatre Association at schooltheatre.org.

 Make sure to celebrate Music In Our Schools Month as well as Theatre in Our Schools Month by changing your social media profile picture, volunteering for the different arts programs in school, or even by donating to the choral, drama, band, and orchestra boosters. In the words of freshman Meghan Sielaty, “It gives students the opportunity to express themselves in a way in which they’re comfortable with.”