Patricia Hawke asked:


In the olden days, boys and girls received very different educations. They were segregated from each other, and pursued learning that was predetermined as “appropriate” for their ***. While boys studied subjects like Latin and French, girls learned to dance and do embroidery. Equal education has been in place for a long time, now, and has most certainly been a good change for students everywhere – both girls and boys. This is not a case of change for change sake, but a necessity of progressing with the times. However, there is something to be said for educating our children in same-sex groups. Ohio Schools are beginning to institute same-sex schools, and have found remarkable results.

Middle school students attending Ohio Schools may choose to go to one of the district’s “Single-Gender Middle Schools”. These Ohio Valley Schools are research-based and are modeled on other effectively utilized programs in various schools around the country. Some single-gender characteristics that have been identified are a year-round balanced calendar, Summer Academy, expanded school year, and mandatory uniforms.

The main argument for single-gender Ohio Schools is that they give students a strong academic climate as well as reducing distractions that are experienced by the presence of Ohio Schools students of the opposite ***.

The benefits for both boys and girls attending single-gender schools have commonalities as well as differences. Some research points out that Ohio Schools that have single gender programs are particularly beneficial for boys because they promote male bonding, optimize male character development and that males from low income and minority backgrounds especially profit from single gender Ohio Schools.

The advantages of single-sex education for girls attending Ohio Schools are that they receive expanded educational opportunities, custom-tailored learning and instruction and greater autonomy, especially in heterosexual relationships. Of particular interest, in every age, girls in girls-only Ohio Schools classrooms are more likely to explore "non-traditional" subjects such as computer science, math, physics, and woodworking. The same can be said for boys attending boys-only classrooms; they are more likely to pursue classes in foreign languages, art, music, and drama at one of the single-gender Ohio Schools. With the instinctual need to show off for the females removed through the simple fact that there are no females to show off to, boys have more freedom to choose the “less-macho” classes.

There are detractors to the single-gender movement beginning in Ohio Schools. Some

researchers have suggested that the academic achievement in a single-sex setting hurts the benefits of coeducation. Since we do not go to work for single-gender companies, it may not make sense to some to educate our children this way. Unless your Ohio Schools child is planning to become a nun cloistered off in a far away nunnery, she is going to have to learn to co-exist and work with males. In fact, many people agree that the experience of going to school with members of the opposite *** makes it easier for Ohio Schools kids to move on to the “mixed” or coed environments of college and the world of work.

Steve Pak asked:


Do you like music? Whether it is rock, jazz, classical country, rap, easy listening or polka, music is important in our everyday lives. It can bring out a rainbow of emotions in us. The slow, soulful playing of violins can remind us of past loved ones. A strong beat can give us energy and motivation before starting an important task. And so-called "elevator music" helps to calm our nerves while waiting in doctors' waiting rooms. Regardless of your background, such as being Amish and living in Amish Country Ohio, music is a part of your life. But how important is music to our babies?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for whom the Baby Mozart Music Festival DVD is named after, has become one of the most celebrated composers of all time. However, his musical achievements as a child are equally amazing. At the age of just three-years-old, Mozart was already playing the clavichord (basically, a small piano). One year later, he was already writing short pieces of music!

Signs of Mozart's musical genius continued during his childhood. At just five-years-old, he gave his first concert at an Austrian university. At seven-years-old, Mozart once picked up a violin and played perfectly part of a musical piece that was new to him. Amazingly, Mozart had never had a single formal violin lessons! Young Mozart toured Europe for three years, and was featured in various concerts for kings and queens. When he returned to Austria, he wrote his first opera at the age of 11-years-old!

Will your child be the next Mozart? Well, whether or not your child is Amish and living in Amish Country Ohio, music is nonetheless important in his or her life. Here are some reasons why nurturing early childhood music is so vital:

1. Music can help to develop a child's fine motor skills (i.e. using small muscle groups to play a piano) and gross motor skills (i.e. using large muscle groups to dance). In addition, music improves vocal, speaking and listening skills.

2. Rhythm and pitch are part of your child's natural development. Sometimes children

would rather sing than listen, skip than walk, and dance instead of standing still. Is this normal? It is, and here is proof:

? A fetus is already aware of the heartbeat of his or her mother.

? For centuries, music and lullabies have become standard methods for helping babies to fall asleep.

? In what experts refer to as "The Mozart Effect," exposure to classical music can have a significantly positive effect on humans' physical and mental health. Several studies have proven this theory. And this beneficial effect of classical music influences not only adults, but children as well.

3. The sharing of musical instruments and playing in a "band" can help toddlers to learn important social skills.

4. Music can have an important influence on the development of a child's brain, particularly through the age of six-years-old. During these years, the most significant brain development occurs.

5. Infants and toddlers tend to be less inhibited about making errors, than older children are. After children start elementary school, they are required to learn the "correct" way to sing a song or play an instrument. However, pre-school children can have jam session on a toy grand piano, without being worried about hitting the right keys. As a parent, try to grin and bear the sour notes.

Not every child can become a musical genius. However, regardless of whether or not you are Amish and living in Amish Country Ohio, music is fundamental in nurturing your child's physical, mental, and social development. It is more than just music to his or her ears.

Patricia Hawke asked:


New York City’s Carnegie Hall is world renowned for hosting the world’s best artists — all of whom have considered it an honor and privilege to perform there. In April 2007, the Hall will host the National Invitational Band and Orchestra Festival.

The festival is sponsored by Field Studies International, allowing high school musical groups from across the country to compete using a recorded audition tape. This year, 18 groups have won the coveted opportunity to perform on the stage at Carnegie Hall. Frank Battisti of the New England Conservatory, Craig Kirchhoff of the University of Minnesota, and H. Robert Reynolds of the University of Southern Carlifornia will judge the event, providing recorded comments and a recording of the performance for each musical group. The wind ensemble at Ohio schools ‘ Walnut Hills in Cincinnati is one of the 18 groups selected for the final competition at Carnegie Hall.

While most Ohio schools were cutting back on their music programs, the Ohio schools’ Walnut Hills was maintaining its 11 bands. Kerry Kruze, music teacher at the Ohio schools’ Walnut Hills, believes that students thrive on the arts. The participants in the wind ensemble play with amazing precision and brilliant sound, according to Kruze, proving that music is not just for kids whose parents can afford it.

Besides the ensemble, the Ohio schools’ Walnut Hills has a choir, an orchestra, a band, a jazz ensemble, and a steel drum program. Walnut Hills clearly pushes their music programs the same as their academics and their music programs continue to grow.

The ensemble ranks as one of the best bands in the nation with 69 musicians. It is the top performing band of the 11 musical groups from the school and competes at the highest level of competitions, sponsored by the Ohio Music Education Association. The Ohio schools’ ensemble practices in the basement of the school, an aging accommodation with a leaky roof.

The Ohio schools’ group will be playing four college-level pieces, one of which is Leonard Bernstein’s difficult Overture to “Candide”. It has taken a lot of hard work and practice for the ensemble, who plans to be perfecting their performance right up until they leave for New York.

After they received the invitation to compete at Carnegie Hall in October, the cost of transportation and accommodations while in New York became a problem. The ensemble members and their families sold pizzas, magazines and other fundraising activities for four months. In the end, the Ohio schools’ group had raised $1,000 per person plus extra funds from the band’s booster group.

While in New York, the ensemble and their chaperones will see a Broadway show, visit museums, take in a jazz show at Birdland jazz club, and see the sights of the city.