I am writing to you about a proposed change in the way band, orchestra, and choir rehearsals are done in Fairfax County Elementary schools.
Currently, students signed up for band, orchestra, or choir will be taken out of class to go to their rehearsal, usually one hour per week. This results in a relatively small amount of skill growth over the years spent at elementary school. However, in middle school, class time is increased to around 3 hours and 45 minutes per week. This results in a much higher growth rate compared to elementary school.
Therefore, I propose that students in elementary school who request to be in band, orchestra, or choir should have their general music class replaced with band, orchestra, or choir, resulting in more skilled musicians going into middle school. This would make Fairfax county much more of a musical district in Virginia.
Ryan Payne
Alexandria
The writer is a ninth grader at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.