Our goals are:
The purpose of this organization is to promote and support the band activities for the LaFayette High School Band Program.
Music Statistics and Facts
U.S. Department of Education data show that students who report consistently high levels of involvement in instrumental music during the middle- and high-school years show “significantly higher levels of mathematics proficiency by grade 12.”
- James Catterall, Richard Chapleau, and John Iwanaga, “Involvement in the Arts and Human Development,” 1999
The College Entrance Examination Board found that students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on math than students with no arts participation.
- College-Bound Seniors National Report: Profile of SAT Program Test Takers. Princeton, NJ: The College Entrance Examination Board, 2001
Music majors are the most likely group of college grads to be admitted to medical school.
- Lewis Thomas, Case for Music in the Schools, Phi Delta Kappa, 1994
Students who participate in school band or orchestra have the lowest levels of current and lifelong use of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs among any group in our society.
- H. Con. Res. 266, United States Senate, June 13, 2000
Students of lower socioeconomic status who took music lessons in grades 8–12 increased their math scores significantly as compared to non-music students. Reading, history, geography and even social skills soared by 40%.
- Gardiner, Fox, Jeffrey and Knowles, Nature, May 23, 1996
High school music students have been shown to hold higher grade point averages (GPA) than non-musicians in the same school.
- National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988
78% of Americans feel learning a musical instrument helps students perform better in other subjects.
- Gallup Poll, “American Attitudes Toward Music,” 2003
Nine out of ten adults and teenagers who play instruments agree that music making brings the family closer together.
- Music Making and Our Schools, American Music Conference, 2000
With music in schools, students connect to each other better—greater camaraderie, fewer fights, less racism and reduced use of hurtful sarcasm.
- Eric Jensen, Arts With the Brain in Mind, 2001