Music Department Covid Response Mission 2020

The Waunakee Schools Music Department is committed to the following:

As music educators, we are uniquely positioned to help students confront the emotional and social challenges in their lives.

This is because we teach a curriculum that places a large emphasis on finding meaning and expressing emotions, but also because we have a long lasting relationship with many of our students spanning years rather than months. We value the role of listening to and being a support to your children. We will also continue to encourage individual and group reflection, personal goal setting in music, and build emotional vocabulary through the study of music.

Along with the entire Waunakee School Community, we are committed to confront systemic racism, injustice and exclusion.

We value and respect the members of our musical family. We stand with our students, families, and community members who are black, indigenous, and people of color. Together we will listen, learn, and provide a safe space to express our perspectives through music. We celebrate the contributions of people from diverse cultures and genders through the evolution of the art of music, and seek resources that lead students to explore creative voices in music. Students will be guided into meaningful conversations grounded in music exploration that will help them better understand themselves and each other.

We are committed to creating safe music-making spaces for your children.

Music brings unique challenges in the educational setting due to the potential for aerosol transmission. The level of concern is unique to each instrument. The likelihood of transmission in our music ensembles is an active area of scientific investigation in both the United States and Internationally and we are constantly re-evaluating the science of the impact of Covid on the Performing Arts. The music faculty will continue to update families as we hone our procedures and expand our vision for music creation in this ever-changing environment.