It’s hard to believe, but it will soon be time to start thinking about courses for next year. You and your child both may be feeling that it’s time to double down on academics and begin focusing on what is needed for future success. I’m here to remind you that involvement in music doesn’t have to stop, and, in fact, can help your child develop skills that will serve them well as future college students and employees.
Some years ago, the founders of Google shared a five year study called Project Oxygen, which set out to discover what skills were required to be a successful Google employee. The results were as shocking to them as they were to the world.
It turns out that among the eight most important qualities of Google’s top employees, STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) expertise comes in last. The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills — being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas.
These sound like qualities students gain being involved in music.
After bringing in ethnographers and anthropologists to dive deeper into the data, Google expanded its previous hiring practices to include humanities majors and artists.
As you go through this process of what classes to take, I hope you will continue to foster your child's interest in music and know that it promotes skills that are tremendously valuable, no matter their future path.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Reilly
Little River Junior High
430 Waverly St, Little River, KS 67457