From the Capital : Do you know the words to the National Anthem?
Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/rhtn/Editorial/808/
Recently, the halls of the state capitol were alive with the sound of music. Numerous children from various Arkansas elementary and secondary schools performed as part of the Capitol Concerts event sponsored by the Arkansas Music Educators Association, providing music that was heard throughout the capitol. This event was especially appealing to me because its mission overlaps with one I have promoted — arts in education.
As chairman of the Education Commission of the States, my initiative, "The Arts: A Lifetime of Learning," concentrates on making sure that every child — from prekindergarten to the 12 th grade — has the opportunity to participate in, learn about and enjoy the arts. My message emphasizes that the arts are as critical to a student’s development as any other subject taught in our schools today. We must do all we can to mobilize, inform, educate and inspire education leaders to recognize the vast potential returns that can be realized by investing now in arts education.
My passion for arts in education comes from the positive impact music has had on my own life, along with the positive impacts I have seen on others ’ lives, especially children. Scholastic arts programs are further reinforced by research findings that show solid academic, cognitive and creative benefits for students who are given the chance to participate in the arts.
Along those lines, the National Anthem Project, an initiative sponsored by the International Music Products Association and others, is presently touring the country to encourage children to learn the words to the Star Spangled Banner. The program also reinforces this anthem to adults. First Lady Laura Bush is the honorary chairperson of the project.
Studies have shown that most American adults have forgotten the words to the National Anthem, along with the story behind the song. Nearly two out of every three Americans (61 percent) don’t know all of the words to the anthem, and of those who claim to know all the words, only 39 percent know what follows "whose broad stripes and bright stars" (answer: " Through the perilous fight"). It is not a coincidence that of those who answered correctly a majority received at least five years of music education in schools growing up.
Additionally, one in three (38 percent) don’t know the official name of the National Anthem (Star Spangled Banner), fewer than 35 percent of American teens can name the author of the National Anthem (Francis Scott Key), and as few as 15 percent of American youth can sing the words to the anthem from memory. As we continue to encourage our children to participate in music and art programs at their schools, we can also continue to support these school programs. The value of these programs will remain with our children far after graduation day.
The Star Spangled Banner 1814 — Words by Francis Scott Key
O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say does that star spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?