education
The Community Building Power of Music
I was asked by Grant Station to write about the community building power of music for their website newsletter. Grant Station connects non-profits to potential grant opportunities.
Life Lessons From Painting: Your Self Portrait is Never Finished
Six months ago, I began talking painting lessons. It has been fascinating, exhilarating, challenging and more than anything, educational.
Building Walls vs. Building Bridges: Music’s Role
Despite the current political climate where efforts to build walls, ban travel and separate different ethnic groups is increasing, an argument can be made that over time, the forces of globalization are simply too strong and, ultimately, will prevail. Whether it relates to the economy, the environment, religion or culture, the fact is, the world …
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Can the NFL Recover Its Own Fumble?
My father was a successful high school football coach. He was an old school, three yards and a cloud of dust sort of coach. Nothing bothered him more than watching his offense fumble the football. Offenders of what he considered the ultimate football sin were made to carry a football around school all day, every day until the next game. Conversely, as a defensive minded coach, nothing delighted him more than when his defensive unit caused and recovered a fumble.
His campaign slogan? A conga in every home!
originally published on LNP on April 7th Today, I am announcing my candidacy for president of the United States of America. If a former reality TV personality can become president of the United States, why not me? I did not come to this decision without deep thought and much research. My first step was …
Music Education and Community Economic Development
While the majority of public school program and funding decisions are dictated by federal and state mandates the area in which local education and community leaders have enormous influence and decision making power is with extracurricular activities, such as sports, music and the arts. You can get a fairly good idea of what a local …
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High School Football: The Folly of Trying to Sustain the Unsustainable
There were two recent items in the media regarding high school tackle football that, taken together, provide a strong hint of the future of the sport in our schools. The first was a report that a three-judge panel of Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court rejected an attempt by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) to have a …
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Brain on Football vs. Brain on Music
Picture this. A magnified image of a cross section of the human brain. The image shows hundreds of tiny brownish bits. These bits are toxic proteins, called tau, that form after brain trauma. Tau can inhibit cellular functions in the brain, leading to depression, dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) …
Participation Trophies for All and the Ruination of Our Youth? Chill Out!
We’ve all witnessed those youth sport ceremonies where every participant receives a trophy. While most consider them to be a fairly harmless way to offer a child some encouragement and provide a sense of accomplishment, there are a considerable number of critics who deride the practice. They argue that recognizing children for mere participation encourages …
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