One in Five American Children Live in Poverty

Child poverty increased in 38 states from 2000 to 2009, and nearly 15 million children – 20 percent of the child population – were poor in 2009, a 2.5 million increase from 2000. These are among the findings in the 2011 Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Nevada has the highest rate of children with unemployed and underemployed parents, and the most children affected by foreclosures – 13 percent of all Nevadan babies, toddlers, and teenagers have been evicted due to unpaid mortgages. In the two decades since researchers began compiling the annual report, infant mortalities, child and teen deaths, and high school dropout rates have declined, but the number of unhealthy babies has increased, and far more children live in low-income families. Programs such as food stamps, unemployment insurance, and foreclosure meditation have been “a dam against the flood of poverty,” but that assistance is threatened by federal and state budget cuts. Mississippi has the most children living in poverty, 31 percent; New Hampshire had the fewest at 11 percent. The federal poverty level this year is $22,350 a year for a family of four. Data from 10 key indicators are used to develop a composite index of child well-being for each state. An overall ranking of child well-being for each state, based on 10 key indicators, found that New Hampshire ranks highest (best), followed by Minnesota and Massachusetts. The three states at the bottom of the ranking are Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Ohio ranked 29th. The full text of the report is here.

Heights Summer Music Camp – Lessons About Learning

In June 2011, for the seventh time, Reaching Heights partnered with the CH-UH school district to offer young musicians a chance to discover their own capacity to learn and grow, to strengthen their commitment to music, and to enjoy music and the rewards of the camp community. Heights Summer Music Camp’s emphasis on ensemble work in an orchestra, a chamber group, a jazz band, a guitar choir, and a chorus is the camp’s strength. It teaches collaboration and demonstrates that a diverse group is not a problem; it’s a resource for all members to achieve at levels unimagined by many.

We know regardless of their future in music, our campers come away with great lessons for life. And the camp exemplifies that a diverse group of learners can achieve at high levels.

Photos from 2011 Heights Summer Music Camp

This summer 83 children from 4^th to 8^th grade, with one to eight or more years of experience with their instruments, with and without private lessons, assembled each morning and each afternoon to master three pieces of music: to become an orchestra.  This hodgepodge of skill, experience, competence and motivation somehow needed to end up in the same place at the end of the week.  The high level performers as well as the most basic all needed to be challenged and engaged; all needed to learn something new and do it well; all needed to be motivated and supported to reach a high standard.

When Saturday rolled around and the students took the stage for the finale concert this disparate collection of musicians became a harmonious orchestra.  Many voices became one. They sounded wonderful. Everyone held up their end of the deal. Some had to work harder and go farther to get there but with a lot of practice, coaching, direction, mentoring, worry and joy they arrived.  The music was awesome; their effort was tireless and transforming.

This is what we want in every classroom. We want the disparate hodgepodge of unique individuals to find a way to draw from their individual strengths, respond to well conceived experiences and expert instruction, learn from their peers, and rise to the high standard we hold for all of them.

Every summer I see this process unfold. And every summer I am awestruck by our children and their desire to grow, by music education as a profound way to help children discover their own capacity, and by the power of educators to bring out the best in our children.

I am grateful to be part of a summer experience that sets the standard for what education of a diverse set of learners can achieve.  

We will be back next year and look forward to building another orchestra of learners.

 –By Susie Kaeser, Camp Administrator