Mastic Beach, NY, 2023 – The William Floyd School District music department has been named a “Best Community for Music Education” by the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Foundation, an honor given to school communities that demonstrate outstanding achievements and efforts to provide music access and education to all students. William Floyd is just one of 830 school districts nationwide to receive this honor, which recognizes efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students and the community, for contributing to making music education an important part of a well-rounded education. This is the seventh time overall that the district has received this designation.
Members of the award-winning music faculty include: Juliana Asselta, Julia Bellante, Kelly Bergquist, Tomas Bradbard, Diana Brown, Mabel Burgos, Zachary Carrillo, Jason Castoro, Christine Coffill, Dawn Conefry, Joe Cordaro, Frank Desiderio, Jonathan Dignam, Margaret D’Orio, Ryan Feldscher, Kaylee Figalora-Torres, Joseph Fischer, Gabriella Forgit, Christine Furlani, Amanda Gardner, Garry Helbock, Kimberly Hyland, Sharon Kitzis, Katelyn Levine, Jessica Marks, Chris Miranda, Leanna Ozman, Alison Prestia, Donia Rivera, Garrett Rode, Berkeley Rousseau, Maria Rueda, John Sapanaro, Kailey Schnurman, Michelle Seifert, Mick Singh, Debora-Ann Tomko, Donna Visone-O’Brien, Dara Wolfert, along with Dr. Amy Mason Sckipp, coordinator of the music department, and, Nancy Slane, music department clerical.
To qualify for the Best Communities designation, the district answered detailed questions about graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, funding, support for the music program and community music-making programs. Responses were verified by school officials and reviewed by The Music Research Institute at the University of Kansas.
Research into music education continues to demonstrate cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music. Studies have shown that after two years of music education, participants showed more substantial improvements in how the brain processes speech and reading scores than their less-involved peers and that students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school but also to attend college as well. In addition, everyday listening skills are stronger in musically-trained children than in those without music training. Significantly, listening skills are closely tied to the ability to: perceive speech in a noisy background, pay attention, and keep sounds in memory. Later in life, individuals who took music lessons as children show stronger neural processing of sound; young adults and even older adults who have not played an instrument for up to 50 years demonstrate enhanced neural processing compared to their peers. Not to mention, social benefits include conflict resolution, teamwork skills, and how to give and receive constructive criticism.
About The NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 15,000-member companies and individual professionals. The foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving, and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visit www.nammfoundation.org.