Students were at the Kansas Capitol on Thursday, March 2, for Theatre in Our Schools Advocacy Day. And what a perfect month for the event because March has two fine arts celebrations – Music in Our Schools Month® and Theatre in Our Schools Month. 

Theatre in our Schools Month helps to raise awareness of the benefits of theatre education. It is a joint venture between the Educational Theatre Association (EDTA) and the American Alliance for Theatre & Education. Only 28% of public high schools in high-poverty areas offer theatre instruction, according to the United States Department of Education. Ninety-five percent of school administrators believe that theatre experiences improve students’ overall academic schools, according to the EDTA-Utah State University survey of Theatre Education Programs in U.S. High Schools. 

This is the 38th year of Music in Our Schools Month® – also called MIOSM® for short. March has been officially designated MIOSM® by the National Music Association for Music Education (NAFME). The purpose of MIOSM® is to raise awareness of the importance of music education for all children and to remind people that school is where all children should have access to music, according to https://nafme.org/. 

It was started as a single statewide advocacy day and celebration in New York in 1973 and grew over to become a month-long celebration of school music in 1985.