Band and other performance arts are vital to experiential learners. These experiential learners are the adults who later become the entrepreneurs, the chefs, the musicians, the artists, the actors, the farmers, the yacht builders. These are the VERY (and only?) people currently driving the Rhode Island economy.
Where would our tourism be without our restaurants, musicians, art studios, small independent shops, and theatres? This should be especially apparent in Warren and Bristol, shouldn't it? We are two towns recognized and praised for these very assets. Think of all the recent articles in larger publications that have been about Warren and Bristol. They are centered on our musicians, our restaurants, our artists.
Indeed, the very trend is going towards MORE experiential opportunities: think Hope & Main, think 2nd Story Theatre's recent expansion into the Liberty Street School building. These are businesses buying empty buildings and expanding programs in a down economy. And they are businesses built on performance arts.
Throw away performance arts and you are indeed throwing away the very business sector that keeps Warren and Bristol afloat. These are the business sectors that will provide employment to future Mt. Hope High School graduates. Do we truly want to strip away the skill set that Mt. Hope graduates will need to get those jobs?
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