1、Education Commission of the States 700 Broadway, Suite 1200 Denver, CO 80203-3460 303.299.3600 Fax: 303.296.8332 www.ecs.orgAddress by MIKE HUCKABEE, Governor, State of ArkansasDelivered to the Education Commission of the States, The 2004 National Forum on Education Policy, ECS Commissioners Busines
2、s Session and Gavel ExchangeOrlando, Florida, July 15, 2004At The 2004 National Forum on Education Policy, Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee became chairman of the Education Commission of the States (ECS). In a speech delivered to a group of policymakers and education leaders from across the country,
3、Huckabee outlined a new initiative “The Arts: A Lifetime of Learning - which will be the centerpiece of his two years as ECS chairman.All of you are aware that the theme for my initiative as ECS Chairman will be “The Arts A Lifetime of Learning.” This is a passion for me, not just a program, and you
4、 will see that over the next two years. I want to explain, on a very personal level, why this issue is so important to me.The Old State House Museum in Little Rock is one you may have seen when Bill Clinton first announced his intent to run for President and when he accepted the presidency the night
5、 of his election in 1992. This museum has quite a bit of visibility in our state and across the world as well. Inside there are many artifacts of Arkansas history and wonderful exhibits, both changing and stationary. If you wandered up to the second floor of the museum you would see something that m
6、ight first strike you as a bit unusual. You would see an old guitar in one of the glass cases. If you know anything about guitars, you may think it not all that impressive, as it is not a very nice or expensive guitar. You might learn that the guitar is, in fact, a very inexpensive one. It was purch
7、ased in 1966 at a cost of $99, which included the electric guitar, the plastic case and the amplifier the whole works from the J.C. Penney catalog. You may wonder why that guitar is there. Its there because it happens to be the first guitar of a child who wanted to play so badly that his parents mad
8、e an extraordinary sacrifice by scraping together $99 and purchasing it for this childs eleventh Christmas. Like so many children who grew up in the era of the post-Beatles phenomenon, this kid learned to play the guitar and played it so much that sometimes his fingers would almost bleed. Also like
9、so many others, he never made it to the big time, never became a musician of renown. So why is his guitar in a museum? It is on display because it belonged to me. In fact, the guitar is part of an exhibit of the First Families of Arkansas. Various governors donated artifacts from their childhoods an
10、d their lives, and this happened to be the first guitar I ever owned. I have owned quite a few since, most of which thank goodness are of a little better quality, but that guitar is priceless to me because it was my introduction to music. My parents thought it was noise, but by gosh the music sounde
11、d good to me. If youre wondering whether I have improved any since 1966, you will have a chance to find out later during this conference when you hear the band I formed called Capitol Offense. I hope you will bring your dancing shoes because we are not a concert band, but rather a band that wants yo
12、u to have a good time. Our band opened this year for Willie Nelson in a sold-out arena concert of 8,000 people. We opened last year for the Charlie Daniels Band and have also worked with Dionne Warwick. A week from now we will be playing a concert with Grand Funk Railroad and later this year with 38
13、 Special. We played one of the Presidents inaugural parties, and as of tomorrow night, we will have played all three Peabody Hotels Orlando, Memphis and Little Rock. We have played for the Southern Governors Association and for the The Arts A Lifetime of Learning“A person in a musical group or a cho
14、ir or in a play understands that for every minute of performance there are hours and hours and hours of practice. And that is how one gets good at anything.” “Whether one looks at studies of students ACT and SAT scores, or their math scores or their capacity for learning foreign language, a tremendo
15、us body of evidence indicates a correlation between arts and academics.”Council of State Governments, and in a host of other places where I find a way to get us invited because nobody else will have us. My point in all of this is that participating in the arts is something I am still able to do. We
16、may not be that sophisticated since we are a classic rock-and-roll band, but we have a whole lot of fun and dont take ourselves too seriously. I will tell you something else as well: if I had been a great athlete in high school, played tackle football or the like, I would not be playing tackle footb
17、all at my age now. However, I can still make music today. And 10, 20 or 30 years from now I will still be able to make music. Just like Willie Nelson. When we played with him, I sat there in amazement and watched this 70-year old man playing with the dexterity of a 25-year old, making music and caus
18、ing kids young enough to be his grandchildren to rush up to the front of the stage to greet him. I could not believe that this 70-year old man is still making incredible music and enthralling crowds. It was so wonderful to see. Over the next two years of my chairmanship at the Education Commission o
19、f the States (ECS), we are going to focus on learning, enjoying and participating in the arts. Let me explain in a simple way the three main components of my initiative.First of all, I want to be able to present what I call a case for the arts. A great deal of research supports the direct connection
20、 between arts education and academic improvement. Whether one looks at studies of students ACT and SAT scores, or their math scores or their capacity for learning foreign language, a tremendous body of evidence indicates a correlation between arts and academics as kids develop both the left and righ
21、t sides of their brains. Through the arts, children are able to increase their capacity for spatial reasoning and their ability to think creatively.Now some would say, “Well, Im not too sure those studies are conclusive.” Lets assume for the moment that they are not. Even so, participation in and ap
22、preciation of the arts can last a lifetime. Music, for example, is a life skill an interest and an aptitude that one can maintain throughout a lifetime, unlike some interests that a kid will pick up and maybe never use again. Its not just about learning music or enjoying music, but participating in
23、music it can captivate a student. A child can experience music at five or six or seven years old and spend the rest of his or her life developing a love and appreciation for it. That child will never outgrow it, and will never come to the place where he says, “it no longer can or should be a part of
24、 my life.” The benefits are too numerous to mention here, but one significant consequence of participating in the arts is that children learn teamwork. Imagine a child in the band who realizes his instrument may not be the loudest it may not even be the one playing the primary melody but when the co
25、nductor calls for that one moment when that child can shine, its meaningful. This kid learns something about life, doesnt he? A person in a musical group or a choir or in a play understands that for every minute of performance there are hours and hours and hours of practice. And that is how one gets
26、 good at anything. Whether its being in the band or being the CEO of a major company, the life lessons learned by participating in the arts are clearly invaluable. In fact, one survey of CEOs across America determined that the common denominator of successful CEOs of companies was not that they were
27、 the valedictorians of their class or even in the top 10% academically. The common denominator was their participation in team activities as they were growing up. Such activities taught them both to lead and to follow and to be part of a group.To put it simply, we need to focus on the arts in educat
28、ion because the arts teach kids how to learn. Through the arts, children are presented with huge amounts of new information that they process and use to participate in activities they enjoy. Through the arts, children develop creative skills which carry them “Ensuring that arts education is part of
29、every school not only will enhance student achievement, it will give children access to activities and interests that will benefit and enrich their lives.”toward new ideas, new experiences and new challenges, not to mention a great deal of satisfaction. This is the intrinsic value of the arts, and i
30、t cannot be overestimated in any way. If the first aspect of my ECS initiative is to make a case for the arts, the second component is to establish a place for the arts. That place ought to be our schools, where children already are gathered and are learning. Ensuring that arts education is part of
31、every school not only will enhance student achievement, it will give children access to activities and interests that will benefit and enrich their lives. I get really angry when I hear people speak of the arts as if it is only an extracurricular, extraneous and expendable endeavor in our schools. L
32、et me tell you, I think it is an essential part of an overall well-rounded education. If we are not providing an arts education, including music, the visual arts, theatre, dance and more, then we are not doing enough. It is critical to touch the talent of every kid, no matter what that talent is, an
33、d in far too many of our schools, we have been willing to touch the talent as long as it was about running fast, jumping high, or throwing a ball better than another kid. I enjoy sports too and these skills are wonderful, but I also know that many of those kids who play sports and who are proud of t
34、heir letter jackets when they are seniors in high school will find these jackets hanging in their closets by the time they are 25. For most students, sports alone will not propel them to the next level of success in life. They wont be able to play or participate for life, but rather will only be abl
35、e to be spectators. The arts, however, can build skills and appreciation that can be used and enjoyed for a lifetime.I think we need a place for arts and athletics, and frankly in that order, in our schools. We need a place for every student in every school in America to find his or her talent in th
36、e arts.The third component of my chairmans initiative is to put a face on the arts. Let me personalize it by giving you some examples of some famous Arkansans who have parlayed their participation in the arts from poverty to prosperity. One of the great entertainers of all time, Johnny Cash, grew up
37、 as one of the poorest kids in Arkansas in a little bitty community called Kingsland. Johnny Cash lived there until he was three when his family moved to northeast Arkansas and tried to farm as best they could. There, not far from Memphis, he heard sounds that ranged from gospel and blues to country
38、. Out of all those experiences and sounds, he put together his own unique styling, found his way to Sam Phillips Sun recording studios in Memphis and joined up with a band called the Tennessee Three. The rest, as they say, is history, and Johnny Cash made plenty of it in the music industry. He becam
39、e a crossover artist of great success who was respected in virtually every genre of music. This is just one example of a kid who truly found himself through the arts and will leave a legacy on society because of his music and his personal artistry.Another example is Mary Steenburgen whose father was
40、 a railroad worker in northern Little Rock, Arkansas. She came from a working-class family and now, as you know, is an Oscar-winning actress. Billy Bob Thornton, who grew up in Malvern, Arkansas is a brilliant writer, actor and director. But he did not grow up in the way that he lives now. He grew u
41、p the son of a local high school coach and a psychic. Although he battled undesirable circumstances like the loss of his father as a teen, he was able to parlay his dreams, burning within him to become a successful writer, producer, actor and Oscar-winner.I present these examples not because somebod
42、y might be the next Johnny Cash or Billy Bob Thornton or Mary Steenburgen, but to point out that there is a kid who will play in the high school band and will learn how to play the trumpet. Prior to learning the trumpet, this kid will have no place. He wont be a great basketball player or be picked
43、for the team at recess, but one day, somebody will put a trumpet in his “Self-esteem is not the result of somebody saying, Here, here is your self-esteem, feel better about yourself. It is the result of being allowed to be good at what you are gifted to do then self-esteem takes care of itself.” “In
44、side of every human being there are secrets to unlock, there are treasurers to unlatch. We owe it to all children to make sure that whatever their talent is theater, music, dance or painting doors are open for them.” hands and he will find his gift from God. When he plays, he not only will find the
45、blessing within himself, but people who have never given him attention before will give him their applause.For every one of you in this room today who has ever heard applause for something that you did and did well, I dont have to tell you that self-esteem is not the result of somebody saying, “Here
46、, here is your self-esteem, feel better about yourself.” It is the result of being allowed to be good at what you are gifted to do then self-esteem takes care of itself. Dont we owe that opportunity to every kid in America? Dont we owe to every child, whether his talent is basketball or the tuba, th
47、e ability to experience it? The face of the arts should be the face that we hope to see on every kid as he lights up walking out on a stage. The face may be playing only a tiny part in a play, but that child knows that the hours of practice meant something. The lines memorized, or the instrument lea
48、rned, or the song written all mean something, and that child can feel good about his efforts and achievement. Placed around this room is artwork that has been brought to us by the Cralde School of Art. In looking at this work, I have a great sense of joy knowing that a child, somewhere, took a blank
49、 board and created something that represented his thoughts, his spirit and his heart. Inside of every human being there are secrets to unlock, there are treasurers to unlatch. We owe it to all children to make sure that whatever their talent is theater, music, dance or painting doors are open for them. We must make sure that they dont go through life without ever discovering their talents.If education means anyt
