North Penn would not be the great school it is without its well respected music department. As students begin to fill out course selections, they should be sure to consider taking one of the many music electives North Penn has to offer.

“Music classes were the first step into another world for me. Being in band and chorus led to extracurricular activities [Marching Knights, Pit Orchestra, Women’s Choir, Chamber singers, etc.] that I have spent most of my time outside of school doing,” shares Lisa Giang, an engaged musical student at North Penn High School.

Because of the department’s wide range, students are given authentic experiences.

“I think for a lot of our students, it gives them the opportunity to take a class where they get to do something they love and they really enjoy and it doesn’t have the same academic stressors or rigors as a lot of other classes do. I know it’s kind of a respite for a lot of our kids. They get to relax for a little bit of a period and do something that is a lot of fun,” says music teacher Mr. Michael Britcher.

It has been shown that kids who are involved in music electives do better in school. A study of 7,500 university students revealed that music majors scored the highest reading scores among all majors including English, biology, chemistry and math (The Case for Music in the Schools, Phi Delta Kappa, 1994). High school music students have also shown to hold higher grade point averages (GPA) than non-musicians in the same school (National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988).

Not only does taking part in musical electives help to advance coordination, develop language and reasoning, and improve memorization, it also provides the forum for students of different experiences and backgrounds to collaborate and create with others.

“It [being a part of North Penn’s music department] means I have to be engaged in an activity that isn’t all about me; in other classes, it boils down to me proving my mastery of a subject to receive a grade that hopefully reflects positively on me. With music classes, grades don’t really matter. It’s about what I can create with others,” shared Giang.

“[Students] get to do something that’s different than they get to do in their academic classes. They also get to be part of an exceptional organization. Our entire music department, whether we’re talking band, orchestra, chorus, and the tech electives that we have, are all tremendous and great to be involved in,” shared Britcher.

“If there’s any intrigue at all, a student should sign up for a music elective. North Penn puts an unbelievable amount of resources into its programs that you’d be hard-pressed to find in most other public schools. If someone’s interested, it would be a mistake for him or her to let the opportunity pass by.”