Junior Advisory Board

One day in the spring of 2005, I had a conversation Rose about the future of Music House. She had come to pick up her son Charlie (age 12) at the end of his lesson. The conversation went something like this:

Rose: How is Music House going?

Me: It’s going well, thanks.

Rose: Are you expanding your program?

Me: Well, I’m thinking about things. You know, I’m not exactly a business person.

Rose: Tell me about it. [I missed the sarcasm and thought she wanted me to tell her about it.]

Me: For example, I’d like to get a bigger space, but I don’t know which to do first, get a space or build up my clientele.

Rose: Yes, that’s a tough one.

Charlie (diddling on the xylophone): Maybe you could do some of both: Look around at spaces, advertise for students and talk to people who might know about places with space like churches or schools.

Me: Hmm. Yeh … and another thing, Rose, in terms of advertising, should I put fliers around or buy an ad in a parent magazine? Those things are expensive.

Rose: I can imagine. Those are hard decisions.

Charlie (diddling on the autoharp): You could put fliers in different schools. And isn’t there some neighborhood paper where it doesn’t cost that much to advertise?

Me: (beginning to smell the coffee) Wow, Charlie, maybe you should be my manager!

Rose: Yes, Charlie has amazing business sense. Much more than I do!

By the time Rose and Charlie left, the idea to form a Music House Junior Advisory Board had been born. The concept of students having a say in the development of my program seemed in keeping with Music House’s philosophy to give children a voice and have the power to make decisions that actually affect the way things happen. After all, through my work with these children, I’d had the privilege of discovering just how bright and resourceful they are, and who would be in a better position to understand the essence of Music House than the students themselves? I invited four students, aged 11-12, who had been coming to Music House for a couple of years or more and had blossomed in this environment, each in a different way.

Our first meeting took place on Sat., Sept. 10, 2005, with all four members present. I emailed a list of questions to each child and asked them to choose a couple of questions to which they could contribute some insights and solutions. Some of the questions discussed were: 

·          How is Music House different from other lessons?

·          What is Music House good for?

·          What do you get out of going to MH that you can't do by yourself

·          If we had a mansion in NYC just for Music House, what would it contain?

The participants offered a variety of well thought out perspectives and suggestions, and there was a feeling among all of us that we are onto something big and doing important work. Ideas came fast and furious as to what sorts of things should comprise the next documentary and the physical layout of a Music House. Members expressed varying points of view on whether there should be periodic sharing of individual accomplishments or whether that is too product-oriented. We grappled with difficult issues such as how to challenge a student while preserving the Music House vision of free choice. Everyone present seemed energized by the session and was eager to plan a follow-up meeting.

We will continue to meet throughout the year, and the fruits of out labor will be shared from time to time on the Music House blog.

Stay tuned!