Everyone Can Help a Music Student! #MIOSM

I'm not sure if this commercial is universal, but I often hear on the radio a commercial where a child says, "Not everyone can be a foster parent, but everyone can help a foster child". I really feel that exact same way about music education.

Over the years, I've read so much research showing the transferable skills music has on the ability to learn other academic subjects. For simplification purposes, I thought I'd share some of the tweets music advocates and teachers have shared this month:

Having shown you all of this, I would now like to introduce you to the National Association of Music Parents. This national non-profit organization has been active since 2011 while some parents have held on to its current twitter account from 2009. AMP works on a larger scale to educate parents of the why of music education and the how of support and advocacy. It doesn't matter if this is a parent of a student just starting a music class or a parent of a music student who is about to graduate!

Anyone can become a member of the AMP. With a yearly payment of $12, an individual gains access to classes about the value of music education and additional resources to advocate, initiate and maintain their music program that the organization cannot provide free of charge. But, you don't have to be a member to support the AMP and its mission. 

Please support the National Association of Music Parents to ensure that additional music programs aren't cut from schools and that new music programs can begin in schools where there weren't any previously! 

I invite you to donate to the National Association of Music Parents by clicking here. In addition, write to your local political and school district representatives to ensure that music programs are not cut from schools and talk to others in your neighborhood who might have children enrolled in music programs to discover what their school's music programs need that you might be able to provide!

You can find the National Association of Music Parents on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Google +, and Pinterest.

Not everyone can be a music student's parent, but everyone can help a music student! How will you connect with music education today?