[Your Turn]  JPS Students Need Strings

by Georgie Fitch
October 28, 2009

Sometimes I wonder if the people in charge of making decisions about education realize we are the future. We kids are affected by the school board's decision to cut out important extracurricular activities such as strings. This decisions means that many students will not get to have such a wonderful experience in elementary school as I did.

I started playing violin in the strings program at Casey Elementary School here in Jackson. It was very exciting and a defining moment regarding my future. Now, students do not have anything to look forward to. The strings program and other school activities encourage students to try harder in their academic subjects and give them a reason to come to school every day. I believe they should not have cut out the strings program.

Many students started out playing at one of the elementary schools that offered the strings program. Then, they moved up to Power APAC. Now many students will not have anywhere to start out. I believe that eventually the number of students playing any instrument will drop. With fewer and fewer students playing instruments, the other strings activities such as Mississippi Youth Symphony Orchestra and Power APAC will have fewer people joining.

I know this has already affected many students. My little sister was going to play cello. Now she can't try unless we get a private teacher. Also, a fun program called "All City" will not happen because there will not be enough students to perform. This was a great field trip that brought students from all schools in the district together. Now there is nothing to look forward to or work toward.

I go to Power APAC for violin and Chastain Middle School for academics. Before, I felt ashamed mentioning that I go to a public school, but now I realize that public schools have so much to offer. Chastain's APAC academic classes are a level above normal coursework and challenge students. Many of these students are also members of the Strings program. The school also has a great principal and wonderful teachers. I realized that I am getting an outside experience not offered in private schools. Students, do not be ashamed of where you go to school.

The city of Jackson and Jackson Public Schools both need hope. Programs like the Strings in public schools encourage children like myself to try harder and do more and be involved in the community. Please do not take away this special program.

Georgie Fitch, 12, is a seventh-grader in the Jackson Public Schools system. She has played violin for four-and-a-half years and started out at Casey Elementary. Her favorite subject is science, and she would adopt every animal in Mississippi if she could. When she gets older, she plans to become a veterinarian and play in the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.

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