New Brand and Website designed to promote the vital importance of a combined "brain and heart" approach to orchestrating student success

RESTON, VA. (February 18, 2014) – Ask anyone who ever took a music class growing up whether it mattered to them or not, and just watch their face light up. Ask any public school music teacher why music programs should remain an integral part of the curriculum, and be prepared to spend an hour listening to the reasons why. But first, go to www.BroaderMinded.com and see first-hand why the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) has decided to fully reinvent its advocacy efforts to show "where the rubber really meets the road" when it comes to music education.

Effective February 18, NAfME is officially launching a new advocacy brand and website called "Broader Minded^TM," which takes an innovative look at the true value of music education and challenges assumptions about music's often-perceived supplemental role in the curriculum. Broader Minded^TM is essentially the association's platform for articulating new arguments that stress the importance of music in every child's education.

"Today we officially announce that the National Association for Music Education has fundamentally reinvented the manner in which we teach, promote, and conduct music education advocacy," said NAfME Executive Director and CEO Michael Butera. "We are on a nationwide mission to ensure parents, students, and music educators that it is safe to advocate for their programs—that music education programs orchestrate success based on the inherent benefits of classroom music. We will roll out the Broader Minded^TM campaign over the next few weeks and continue the march in the months and years ahead. 

"Most importantly, through this incredibly uplifting and long overdue initiative, we're going to remind the nation, music educators, and advocates of why, exactly, music is in our schools, and why music educators got into teaching music in the first place. We look forward to others joining in the Broader Minded^TM campaign where together the brain and heart demonstrate the argument for music education."

To date, much of NAfME's advocacy has relied on data-driven arguments that correlate music study with quantifiable measures of academic success such as graduation rates, test scores, and grades. These data, while valid, also are limited in scope. As with any complex outcome, the effect of music education as a singular intervention on a student's overall success is difficult to isolate. 

Further, through continued interactions with members, stakeholders, and students, NAfME has recognized the need to reach beyond these traditional arguments as part of its advocacy work. As a result of these interactions, NAfME was able to articulate several new key arguments that speak to music education's unique contribution to a high-quality education.

Broader Minded^TM cites benefits such as skills and personal attributes like self-discipline, reflective learning, and emotional awareness—skills that allow individuals to maximize both their personal success and their contributions to the 21^st century workforce. The new website at www.BroaderMinded.com features an interactive model that illustrates these benefits with actual stories submitted by students, parents, and teachers. The site also allows users to join the Broader Minded^TM movement, access new advocacy materials, and share their own stories about the value of music education.

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MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES:  To arrange Broader Minded^TM interviews with NAfME leadership, public school music educators, or students with stories of their own to tell, please contact Shannon Kelly at ShannonK@nafme.org or Nelson Duffle at NelsonD@nafme.org. You can also call (800) 336-3768 and ask for Shannon, Nelson, or other members of the NAfME Advocacy staff.

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