Music for Life Bulletin Board

 

In an effort to help with retention in orchestra between elementary and middle school, I created this "Music for Life" bulletin board.  I was hearing from students saying that they wanted to become engineers or something else that wasn't directly music-related, so they weren't sure there was room for music classes in their middle school schedules.  I want students to be able to visualize themselves as musicians--no matter what they may end up studying in college or choosing as a career--and to understand that music classes are for everyone--not just those who are planning to become professional musicians.  This bulletin board showcases highly accomplished individuals who didn't necessarily go into music as a career but still had musical backgrounds (or sometimes musicians who also studied other disciplines).

The text on the bulletin board says: 

Music for life!  You don’t have to become a professional musician to enjoy playing music—music is part of a well-rounded education and is for everyone!  Music is something you can take with you for the rest of your life :) 

Check out these individuals who are well-known in their own fields and are also musicians—or are famous musicians who studied other disciplines too!

Here are the 15 individuals included (feel free to add your own):

• Neil Armstrong: Astronaut/Pianist, Baritone Horn Player
• Louis Braille: Educator, Inventor of braille/Cellist and Organist
• Charles Dickens: Author/Accordion Player
• Albert Einstein: Physicist/Pianist and Violinist
• Mahatma Gandhi: Lawyer/Concertina Player
• Art Garfunkel: Singer, Poet, and Actor/Studied architecture; degrees in Art History and Mathematics Education
• Donald Glaser: Physicist/Violinist, Violist, and Pianist
• Madeleine L'Engle: Author/Pianist, Choir Director
• Steve Martin: Comedian, Actor, Writer, Producer, Musician/Banjo Player
• Henri Matisse: Artist/Violinist
• Brian May: Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist of Queen/Doctorate in Physics and Mathematics
• Condoleezza Rice: Political Scientist, Diplomat/Pianist
• Oscar Robertson: Basketball Player/Flutist
• Fred Rogers: Television Host, Author, Producer, Minister/Pianist
• Molly Yeh: Cookbook Author, Blogger/Percussionist

Who else should I add to the list?  One idea for an extension would be to keep in touch with a school's graduating seniors from music classes and showcase their involvement in music and their field of study/career.

Music for Life bulletin board:

• Google doc

You could print these out on white paper, single-sided, as-is, or I put the text about each person by itself at the bottom of the document in case you'd like to cut out the picture and text and paste onto a colored background as I did.

I also added information about and pictures of community bands and orchestras in the area to show what kind of musical opportunities exist for community members.

Enjoy!