For the second year in a row, Irving ISD has earned the Best Communities for Music Education award from the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education.
Now in its 25th year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation recognizes districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement for providing music access and education to all students.
To qualify for the Best Communities designation, Irving ISD answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program and community music-making programs. Responses were verified by school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music. After two years of music education, researchers found that participants showed more substantial improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers and that students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school, but also to attend college as well. In addition, everyday listening skills are stronger in musically-trained children than in those without music training. Listening skills are closely tied to the ability to perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention and keep sounds in memory. Later in life, individuals who took music lessons as children show stronger neural processing of sound. Young adults and even older adults who have not played an instrument for up to 50 years show enhanced neural processing compared to their peers. Not to mention, social benefits include conflict resolution, teamwork skills and how to give and receive constructive criticism.
This is Irving ISD’s sixth year receiving the Best Communities for Music Education award. In addition to this honor, Irving ISD students shined through in their respective UIL middle school and high school competitions during the month of April. For comparison, the district earned a combined total of 36 sweepstakes, compared to 24 the year before. See the full breakdown below.
Irving High School Cluster (17 Sweepstakes Awards)
Band: 6 sweepstakes
Choir: 5 sweepstakes
Orchestra: 6 sweepstakes
MacArthur High School Cluster (9 Sweepstakes Awards)
Band: 2 sweepstakes
Choir: 4 sweepstakes
Orchestra: 3 sweepstakes
Nimitz High School Cluster (10 Sweepstakes Awards)
Band: 4 sweepstakes
Choir: 2 sweepstakes
Orchestra: 4 sweepstakes
Congratulations to all our Irving ISD students and teachers for these magnificent achievements!
About The NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 15,000 global member companies and individual professionals worldwide. The foundation advances active participation in music-making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visit www.nammfoundation.org.
