Giving Compass' Take:

· Although the cost to implement music education can be quite high, Lauren Barack explains that adopting this type of learning can have tremendous payoffs. 

· How can classes benefit from incorporating music into lessons? How does music engage students? 

· Read more on the power of performing arts and how they benefit students.

When 70 6th-graders signed up for beginning band this fall, Andrew Campo got a bit concerned. Representing more than one-third of the entire grade, this year’s students all received instruments so they could join band. But when Campo thought about those numbers and the limited inventory the school has of musical instruments, he wanted to make sure all students could participate going forward.

“This year we’re okay, but if I can’t get [instruments] next year, we can’t grow,” he said in an interview. “So I’m spending this year getting instruments for next year.”

Students at Montezuma-Cortez Middle School in Cortez, Colorado — where Campo has been band director since 2011 — are usually asked to pay $40 a year to participate in band, which is available to all grades. Those children who can’t afford the fee, however, are never turned away. Campo has always made sure there is an instrument for every interested child.

Read the full article about music education by Lauren Barack at Education Dive.