I asked my Aunt Mary, active music education advocate and singer in the Madison-based band Rosewood, to do some research on a local music booster group of which she has been a member for many years: the Madison Music Association. Oddly enough, her name also lends well to my attempts at alliteration...

A few summers ago I was out in my backyard planting flowers when I heard a curious hammering sound. It sounded like construction but too specific and metered. (My husband and his brother spend their lives on building sites: I know what construction sounds like.) For the next few weeks I heard this sound from time to time and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it was. I cannot remember how I finally became enlightened to the fact (or who told me), but it turned out to be a woodblock metronome belonging to the marching band, the newest part of the music program at Madison High School. I was very excited to have them practicing so close to my house, mainly because I was in marching band in high school and have many fond memories of those days of practice and football games. However, I could not believe that our high school (that I knew was filled with so many talented teens) did not have a marching band before this summer.

I had been a member of the Madison Music Association (MMA), a non-profit corporation, for many years, since my oldest was in first grade. In fact, I was the MMA liaison between the elementary school and the high school. I had only attended a few meetings, so it made sense that I had no idea we didn’t have a marching band. By the time the year was over, that new marching band leader took those kids from beginners to award-winning marchers. It was amazing to see what a little passion, and a lot of hard work, had created. 

The MMA was established sometime in the 1970s primarily to supplement the music program. I have seen it transform over the last 10 years and in particular the last 3 years it has become a phenomenal force in the Madison public school system. The goal in the by-laws of the MMA is to create a meaningful relationship between the parents, students, music and arts faculty, and the public. It supports the students, faculty and all the visual and performing arts programs of the Madison Public Schools, kindergarten through twelfth grade. The organization constantly provides assistance and encouragement, along with financial assistance to applicants of the summer music program and aid in defraying administrative expenses associated with arts education.

The MMA officers are a group of parents of Madison K-12 students currently participating in any of the music or art programs. The officers include a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer with 1-year terms. The past few years, the MMA has been working on getting itself more well-known. It has been low-profile for a long time but through hard work and advertising with posters, banners, websites it has come a long way.

It's just $20 to support arts education in Madison schools and become a member of MMA.

Let me tell you, I have been the membership coordinator for over 7 years and have watched membership go from paper to electronic. I spent many a summer stapling and stamping to get those membership packets out in time for the August mailing before school starts. Now you can get the membership form online (see below), print it out and send in your dues!

This post is from a family friend who used to work with my mum and dad at Elks Camp Moore! Born in Lincolnshire, England, Jenny worked for many years with children and young adults with disabilities in a variety of settings, including residential schools with children with cerebral palsy; group homes and summer programs with deaf/blind clients; nanny to children with cerebral palsy; a school for teenagers with challenging behavior; and a summer camp for children with a variety of special needs. She married her husband Randall, and moved to South Dakota, in 1997. For the past 13 years Jenny has been self employed, running an inclusive daycare, and raising their now 10 year old son (who is quite the soccer star!).

A few years ago I read an article in People magazine, about an organization called Reece's Rainbow who, in a nutshell, advocate and find adoptive families for orphans with Down Syndrome and other special needs. Children who would otherwise spend their lives in orphanages and mental institutes, hidden from the world. They raise adoption grants and promote awareness. Since 2006, over 1000 children have been adopted internationally through Reece's Rainbow.

At the time, the older children listed (over the age of 6) had a collective grant – when a family stepped forward for an older child, they received the whole grant, which was then reset to zero. Thankfully, this soon changed, so that each child had their own, individual grant, meaning you could donate to a particular child. Unfortunately, this also meant that over 100 children suddenly had a grant with ZERO in it. I couldn't just sit back and let that be – seeing a zero on a child's profile was like a kick in the face to me – every child is worth SO much more than that, and I wanted to show that, by donating to a child and zapping that zero, that someone, somewhere, cared about that child.

So began my blog, and my advocating for the least of the least – those children with zero in their grants, the older children who had been passed over again and again. My Zero The Zeros blog (www.zerothezeros.blogspot.com) doesn't have a huge readership, but it is a work of love, and is ongoing. We DID manage to get all of those zeros zapped back in 2011 – but, as more and more children are listed for adoption, then more and more children start with zero. It is an uphill battle, but, to me, it is so worth it. To see those grants grow, and to see those children adopted, is just priceless!!

Children that in the USA would receive the best of medical care, and therapies, and education, are left to waste away and die. Children that in the USA can grow up to be productive members of society – living and working a normal life – are deemed unworthy, and cast away. THIS is why I advocate. THIS is why I shout.

I shout for those who cannot shout for themselves.

Remember Heath ? I wasn't the only one to see him. Many people around the country – and the world – shouted for Heath and so many other children – and within a couple of years, Heath was “fully funded” - meaning, if an adoptive family stepped forward for him, their costs would be fully paid for !! Yet still he waited. And waited. Until, finally, just about a year ago, a family saw him and said “YES” !!! They claimed him as their son, and, after working through the adoption process, they were able to bring him home around Thanksgiving 2013. His new name is Boden, and he is absolutely thriving – the love of a family has no bounds !!

Schools have always been 'in' the center of communities, but in recent years, with the many additional demands and expectations placed on them, some schools have shifted their focus to in fact become 'community centers' in their own right.

Elementary schools in particular have partnered with doctors, mental health, Children and Family Services, child-care providers, and local service organizations to provide the many needs and enrichment opportunities that often go unanswered for today's children.

In my own experience, I saw the impact of what bringing pediatricians and mental health/social workers into the school on a regular basis did for our students and their families. In a rural setting in a rural county, a trip to the pediatrician from "my neck of the woods" was often a 40-50 mile round trip, and to see a specialist in the next county over could be over 100 miles. By partnering with the local pediatrics group, our students could be seen by a physician's assistant right at the school, and prescriptions were called into the local pharmacy in the next town over. We used the same system for mental health workers/social workers from the county's Human Services division. Parents were much more comfortable in the school setting where they were comfortable to tackle issues of abuse, homelessness, custody with a partner on their side.  Our school also hosted a food-bank and clothes closet supported by local churches and service organizations that families were free to "shop" at without having to travel directly to these organizations. GED classes, adult education courses, and family fitness activities were also offered at the school after school hours. In effect, we became the 'one-stop-shop' for families in our isolated community.