Teacher Stories: Mary Solanik, Music and Drama Teacher at Clara B. Worth Elementary School, Berkeley Township, New Jersey
When it comes to budgeting, not just in New Jersey, but all over our country at this time of year, the number one thing that’s on the chopping block is the arts. And I think that our biggest challenge is that we constantly have to be proving our worth, which I think is so unfair. I think our subject matter and the joy that it provides for students speaks for itself. Not only me and music education, but our visual art teachers, all the arts educators: we matter, and it stinks that when budget cuts have to be made, we’re the first to go. I think that for so many students, we can be their only subject where they feel successful, or the only room where they feel an even playing field with their peers. So, I think our biggest challenge is budget cuts.
This time of year, a lot of boards of education are voting on the budget for the next year. For example, our district just approved our budget last week, so it was a big deal. Luckily, I have been very blessed in Berkeley to feel as though my feet are secure on the ground, but I know teachers who every year have to clutch their breath and be like, “Oh my gosh, are they going to pass this budget? What if it doesn’t pass?”
It’s such a shame that there are children who will grow up and never experience these things, and I feel like they miss out on an integral part of what it is to be human. I had a colleague and friend who I grew up with; I met him in high school. We were in the marching band together. He was quiet, but he practiced all the time, just getting better. And he shared with us at our band banquet senior year, “I don’t know if I would be here without Band. In eighth grade, I felt like I had no friends, and I didn’t belong. I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be here. But Band saved my life, and I have to thank you all for that.” And that’s the whole point: the community. Music making is a community, and so many people need that.
Interview by Gregory Andrus
