Music permeates almost every aspect of our lives, from a pre-workout playlist to impulsively picking up the dusty family guitar. Despite its ubiquity, however, many schools fail to properly integrate its presence into a daily curriculum.
Music in Our Schools Month (MIOSM) is a national, annual March promotion of music education, and Mount Pisgah’s Tri-Music Honors Society has served during MIOSM for over seven years.
Mount Pisgah’s MIOSM projects are devised and run by Tri-M students, and their impact reaches the farthest corners of campus.
Every March, student-led music rings through the halls, handwritten music puns adorn the lockers, and pianos (open for public use) appear on every floor.
A particularly substantial past project was the morning performances; music students sang and played jazz music for their early-arriving peers. This served to increase music accessibility around the middle and upper schools–though these groups were especially popular among middle schoolers. The project spread curiosity and led people to ask about the month.
“[It] made people ask, ‘What are they doing?’” said Nisha Lewis, Tri-M adviser. “Then we got to talk about Music In Our Schools Month and spread awareness.”
The organization for MIOSM 2025 is in progress. Tri-M members have received their jobs, and all projects will debut in March.
“We’re really trying to show up in all divisions,” explained Lewis. “Some of our best ideas include the preschool, lower school and the middle. Hopefully, we can connect with them in a way that is meaningful and gets them excited about the music programs we have here at Mount Pisgah.”
With all the buzz of spring, Tri-M’s main purpose for MIOSM is to increase student exposure to music in any form. Its central principle is recognition of music’s importance.
“I find that implementing music in [one’s] everyday life should not just be seen as important, but as life-changing,” said Mount Pisgah alumnus Ayotunde Adewumi. “You start to hear the world differently. It’s like learning a new language that you can understand without words…I find it fascinating that with just the right notes you can brighten someone’s day…without music, life wouldn’t be as memorable.”
