RATIONALE FOR THE WIB FESTIVAL

Again and again it has been proven how important access to music and music education is to our youth. Continually, music programs are among the first casualties during fiscally challenging times. WIB aims to aid schools and their communities by providing access to extraordinary musicians and musical events that would otherwise be unavailable.

Our national educators continue to learn more about the value of music education. The American Association of School Administrators, the National Education Association, the National PTA, the U.S. Department of Education, and the National School Board Association recently reported that students who participate in instrumental music programs achieve higher academic levels than those who do not. Furthermore, according to John Ratey, M.D., author of A User's Guide to the Brain, music teaches students mental discipline "training the brain to become incredibly good at organizing and conducting numerous activities at once. . . have(ing) a great payoff for lifelong attention skills, intelligence, and an ability for self-knowledge and expression."