By Courtney Joyner
Staff writer
The cost of college can be a burden for many, and when you’re a rookie in your industry and just trying to gain experience it can be tough to make a decent wage. However, for those enrolled in a New York State graduate school program for music education, a new organization may remedy those difficulties.
Education Through Music (ETM), an inner-city music program, has introduced a new incentive to encourage music teachers to pursue graduate-level study in music education. According to Executive Director Katherine Damkohler, the opportunity also “[Encourages teachers] to enhance their knowledge and skills,” as well as increase “their successful long-term employment at an ETM partner school.”
The program offers an annual stipend of $5,000 for tuition reimbursement to give students the opportunity to build upon their credentials while taking on a curtailed financial responsibility.
“[The program] provides professional development to all ETM music teachers throughout the school year and provides intensive professional development for two weeks during the summer,” Damkohler said.
She said ETM is dedicated to “attracting and retaining the very best teachers [as it] is core to our mission of providing high-quality music education at our partner schools.”
The program is responsible for reaching nearly 27,000 students in inner-city New York schools, as well as 10,000 students in Los Angeles.
Cindy Bell, an associate professor of music at Hofstra, explained how the program advances beneficiaries. “First, they provide the school with the appropriate equipment and instruments. That is essential to making a music room alive and inviting,” she said. “But second, there is ongoing professional development for the new hires, both individually and in several group meetings a month.”
Hofstra students can benefit from this program and some currently do, as Bell explained. “Currently, two 2015 graduates work for ETM, and professor Peter Boonshaft teaches professional development workshops for them,” she said.
Khristine Raymond, an applied music and music teaching graduate student at Lehman College, has worked for ETM for two years now. “Every time I come home from grad school, my head is full of ideas. I start thinking about how I can take all the information and somehow incorporate that in my classroom,” she said. “My students are achieving higher levels of success because I have more resources in my toolbox to help those students.”
Damkohler discussed how the program helps develop learning in all areas. “Education Through Music has a grade-level curriculum that sets benchmarks of achievement for every grade in music skills. Music teachers use these skills to build creative and engaging classroom activities that support learning and tie into other academic subjects,” she said.
Damkohler said the main goal of ETM is to ensure that every child, including those with special needs, has music education as a part of a well-rounded learning experience.
In order to do so, Damkohler explains they have set in place a strategic plan to be in 100 schools in the next few years. “This school year, we currently partner with 48 schools in New York City,” she said.
However teachers are needed to reach this goal. Damkohler says that with teacher shortages and declining enrollment in teaching preparation programs, investing in teachers’ futures is more important than ever.
