Recognizing that a complete education includes a music education, the Itasca Public Schools have supported the arts, particularly instrumental and choral music.
In band and choir, Itasca's young musicians experience one of the most glorious manifestations of our cultural heritage - music. Through playing and singing, these musicians engage their musical intelligences while basking in the joy and satisfaction that is unique to music making. For some of our students, music is the key avenue for success in formal education. Music, unlike other academic subjects, engages our students in divergent, imaginative thinking.
Knowing that the creative industry comprises the largest segment of the American workforce, band and choir prepares our students for life beyond formal schooling. Over the years, many of our students have pursued degrees and employment in the areas of music education, music performance, music business, musical theater, and arts management.
As we move with music, let us never forget that music is above all, a sharing experience. While there are skeptics who may never recognize the value of a music education, this may not be their fault - they only know what they have been taught. This then, should remain our mission: To see that all children, regardless of what walk of life they come from, have the opportunity to know, feel, and to share music. As John Dewey so aptly stated:
In the end, works of art are the only media of complete and unhindered communication between man and man that may occur in a world full of gulfs and walls that limit community of experience.