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September 26 - 28, 2012
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OREGON DAYS OF CULTURE
9
By Lisa K. Anderson
Pamplin Media Group
When Andrew Arriaga arrived at Elkton
High School last fall, the band roomwas used
as a storage closet.
Now in his second year as a rural music
facilitator, a full-time AmeriCorps volunteer
position developed in partnershipwith Ethos
Music of Portland, Arriaga conducts two
bands and teaches 10 high school students
how to play eight different instruments.
Arriaga hopes to not only take his students
to state competitions this year, but to expand
the school program to create an all-student
pep band and community children’s choir.
“One of the amazing things is the Ameri-
Corps members become members of these
communities,” Jedidiah Chavez, executive
director of Ethos, says. “They’re able to cre-
ate these reallymeaningful relationships and
build support for sustainable music educa-
tion.”
Since it began in 2007, the rural music pro-
gram has expanded from two AmeriCorps
members to 10, some of whom have roved
between communities, holding residencies as
opposed to weekly music classes.
During the last school year, the rural music
facilitators reached 19 schools in communi-
ties such as Fossil, Condon, LongCreek, Mon-
ument, Elkton, Madras, Metolius and Warm
Springs, and at least 2,000 students, in kinder-
garten through 12th grade, across Oregon.
“We don’t go into a community unless they
haven’t had music in two years,” Megan Mo-
ran, rural outreach coordinator, says. “Quite
a number of them haven’t had music for
years. Some of them have never had music
before.”
At these original sites, the goal is to create
sustainable music education within the com-
munities — with partnerships among art
councils, city councils, businesses and
trained volunteers — so AmeriCorps mem-
bers can reach new communities after their
year of service.
“All of these sites have been moving to-
ward that direction to varying degrees,”
Bjorn Carlson, Ethos’ rural outreach project
program manager, says. “We’re finding re-
sources, getting funding and building skill
sets. Sustainability is going to take a different
shape in each community.”
The rural music facilitators typically hold
twice-a-week classes, offer after-school les-
sons (both for students and adults) priced on
a sliding scale and implement their own sup-
plemental programming.
“It’s not like we have a generic plan,” Carl-
son says. “It’s very focused on the communi-
ties and what we think they would get the
most out of.”
InElkton, one of themembersworkedwith
a family to create an intergenerational pep
band. In Fossil, community concerts have
brought local musicians out of thewoodwork.
In Condon, one of the communities where
Carlsonwas previously placed as a rural mu-
sic facilitator, Laura Barnett Arts partnered
with the schools to hold an oral history proj-
ect about Condon, weaving together stories
and accompanying music.
“(The AmeriCorps members) revitalize
our students’ enthusiasm for musical instru-
ments and voice,” June Nissinen, Laura Bar-
nett Arts president says. “They are absolute-
ly magnificent in their community involve-
ment.
Communities apply for the AmeriCorps
positions through a request for proposals and
often hear of the program by word of mouth
from neighboring communities.
The program is funded through a $132,000
Americorps grant, with a cash match that
amounts to $235,000.
While Ethos and AmeriCorps have a con-
tract for two more years, with funding from
the Ford Foundation and Meyer Memorial
Trust, the future of the rural music program
is uncertain. For the 2013 fiscal year, a grant
through the Oregon Cultural Trust kicked in
another $10,000 for the music-education out-
reach.
“There’s an urgency to our work right
now,” Chavez, the executive director of Ethos,
says. “One of the big components is training
community volunteers to step into our place.”
But according to Ethos and AmeriCorps
staff, the progress the last five years has been
tremendous.
Carlson remembers how there was never
music at community events when he first ar-
rived as a rural music facilitator in Fossil and
Condon.
Now he sees a generation sticking with
music and performing at community events.
High school bands are starting to form, and
music is becoming as popular as sports.
One of Moran’s former students, Nathan
Houghtelling, was accepted to Berklee Col-
lege of Music, and Carlson taught trumpet to
a fourth-grader, Cal Homer, who practices an
hour without realizing it andwithout his par-
ents’ prompting.
Students learn the national anthem to play
for pep rallies, Veterans Day, Fourth of July,
the rodeo and other significant events.
And each year, students in these communi-
ties have the opportunity to visit Portland,
where they experience four to five musical
events such as the orchestra dress rehearsal
and an African drumming performance.
They’ve also had the opportunity to visit
OregonMuseumof Science and Industry and
Cirque de Soleil. For many students, it’s their
first time venturing outside their hometowns,
let alone visiting the city.
“(Ethos) feels incredibly honored to help
providemusic education to thousands of kids
who otherwisewouldn’t have access,”Chavez
says.
Ethos is at 2 N. Killingsworth St., Portland.
To learn more about its rural music partner-
ship with AmeriCorps, visit ethos.org or call
503-283-8476.
Ethos Music and AmeriCorps introduce music
education to rural Oregon schools
Ethos provides music performance and music
appreciation courses more than 7,000 kids each year
around the state of Oregon. Here, two Ethos
AmeriCorps members teach in a classroom in Elkton as
part of its Rural Outreach Project.
Courtesy of etHos
education
MUSIC