Was a presenter at pre-conference session of MMUW
The Minnesota Music Educators (MME) midwinter clinic was held Thursday, February 12 to Saturday, February 14, at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
At a pre-conference Music Makes Us Whole (MMUW) session, Mountain Lake Public School Superintendent Bill Strom was a guest presenter, introduced by MMUW Advocacy work group member Andrea Brinkman, music educator and vocal director at Mountain Lake Public School.
Superintendent Strom shared information on the value and importance of a healthy school music department – from a superintendent’s viewpoint.
Strom’s most poignant quote from his presentation included, “The arts, especially music, humanizes students. In our cynical and troubled day and age, we are all looking for young people with compassion, courage, and commitment: people who will stand for important things like truth.
“One of the best ways to inoculate the young with these virtues is not only by teaching their minds with information (that is very important), but by feeding their starving souls with virtue. And music has a way of moving the soul, or training the heart so that virtue can grow.
“The soldier who is asked to stand against the foe stands a better chance of doing his/her duty if they have a song in their heart in addition to facts in their head.”
