News Photo by Julie Goldberg Hillman Band Teacher Ben Witter, left, plays his trumpet while the students in his Jr./Sr. High School band class play their instruments. Band is now being offered for Hillman students and the students are excited that band is back as a class.

ALPENA — Local school districts are working to bring more arts to the classrooms for students. Students have the opportunity to take art, band, choir and drama when going through school, along with other courses that are offered.

Alcona Community Schools offers art for sixth through 12th grade and drama for eighth through 12th grade, and a band program for sixth through 12th grades.

“Drama has been back in the district the past two years,” Superintendent Dan O’Connor said. “Art has been a mainstay at the 6-12 building and in some years, at the elementary as well.”

O’Connor said participation is high in both programs. Band is currently in a part-time capacity and O’Connor said the district plans to hire a full-time band director this summer.

“Once we do this, we will bring back choir,” he said.

O’Connor said Alcona has been without choir for most of the past decade because it was part of the cuts around 2010 when funding was not increasing and the district was going through declining enrollment.

“Having a balanced offering for students is critical,” O’Connor said. “Having balanced and diverse offerings in a small district can also be extremely challenging.”

Having flexible teachers who are willing to have a diverse schedule is critical, O’Connor said. He said having programs that are specialized does impact the district budget, but no more than any other program.

“It takes some careful planning, but it’s important to fund specialized programs the way they deserve in order to offer students diverse and dynamic experiences,” O’Connor said.

Alpena Public Schools offers art, band, choir, and drama to its students. Superintendent Dr. John VanWagoner said the classes are important to a student’s overall education and if possible, the district would like to expand those classes for the students.

At the elementary school level, every student takes art and music. VanWagoner said there are a few teachers who rotate around the schools to teach the classes. At Thunder Bay Junior High and Alpena High School, there are full-time teachers for the classes.

“The only thing I would say is not full-time is drama, but we have the AHS Masquers Club,” VanWagoner said. “There’s also a drama club at the junior high and we work very closely with the local theaters. Our kids have some great opportunities to be a part of those.”

VanWagoner said every kid has talents in different ways and it’s important the district gives kids the opportunity to learn in different ways.

“Many times, the experience and their involvement keeps them in school or makes them very excited about being in school so they will do well,” VanWagoner said. “I think it’s important that every kid has an opportunity to follow their own passions and at Alpena Public Schools, we still believe to create students that are truly career and college ready and to be citizens that grow and flourish.”

VanWagoner said having art and music at the elementary level is important because those things are usually cut out of budgets in other districts.

“We want to make sure that our kids have the same offerings that as a kid in the metro Detroit area,” he said. “We want them to have that same world class educational opportunity.”

Atlanta Community Schools has had a band program for a long time while art, drama, and choir programs have not been around for a while, according to Atlanta/Hillman Superintendent Carl Seiter.

“The most recent was art and the program did not pick up again after a teacher left two years ago,” Seiter said.

Seiter said band participation is high in Atlanta and all students are getting involved in band.

“Many of the athletes are in band,” he said. “The kids are after me to specifically begin a jazz band class in addition to the normal band course.”

Hillman Community Schools has art and band available for the students, but not choir and drama. Seiter said choir and drama are programs the district has not had for at least five years.

“I am unsure exactly how long it has been,” he said. “Band is something we just added this semester with the hire of a qualified teacher, Ben Witter, who is providing us with music and music appreciation in the elementary school along with band in the high school.”

Seiter said with the beginning of a band program that has not been around in a while, the numbers in the junior/senior high school are low.

“This is understandable due to the limited exposure prior to the addition,” Seiter said. “The district did have a retired teacher come to Hillman on a part-time basis in order to keep the kids exposed to the world of music.”

Seiter said the fine arts are a valuable piece of the school experience and all students need to feel like they belong to something.

“The fine arts are perfect for a student who may not be athletic but loaded with talent and give them a chance to shine in their own way,” he said. “A student’s school experience should be the best time of their lives. Area schools do their best to provide as many opportunities as possible for our students.”

Onaway Area Schools offers art and band for its students. Superintendent Rod Fullerton said there is an art teacher who teaches paint, drawing, pottery, videography and photography to students.

There is an elementary art class that students take once a week while art is available at the high school as an elective and not a requirement for students.

Fullerton said band is offered for both the middle school and high school with a beginning band course for fifth-graders. Thirty-three students are in band at the middle school and 29 students are in band at the high school, according to Fullerton.

“It’s a smaller band program compared to other schools,” he said.

Fullerton said choir is not available as a class for its students, but there is a choir club that meets after school. Fullerton said there are between 15 and 20 students in the club, predominantly females.

“There might be a small fee so music can be purchased and as a part of the club, a piano and music are offered for the students,” he said.

Fullerton said drama used to be offered for Onaway students until the teacher retired last year. He said it was an after school club and the students would take part in two performances every year.

“We would need someone capable of teaching it or have someone step up and teach it,” Fullerton said. “It’s not in our immediate plans to add drama back as a class.”

Fullerton said it’s important to have a balance of course offerings for Onaway students.

“There needs to be something for every student,” he said. “There are costs for everything, but the classes are important for the students to have.”

Posen Consolidated Schools offers students choir at the high school level and art at the elementary school level. Superintendent Michelle Wesner said the choir program started a couple years ago and has 11 students enrolled this year.

“There were a few more students last year,” Wesner said. “Having 11 students is pushing it in terms of class size.”

Wesner said the choir program puts together different productions throughout the school year, including Posen’s Got Talent for the students.

For art at both the elementary school and high school, there is not a specific teacher who only teaches art, so each teacher incorporates art in some fashion into their curriculum.

Band was around until 2004 and there was no student interest so the program stopped and hasn’t been around since. Drama also isn’t offered because of a lack of student interest. Wesner said that some students do participate in theater also of school.

“We’ll bring programs back if students show interest in any area,” Wesner said. “We try to have as many opportunities as we can for the students so they’re well-rounded and can try different avenues of learning.”

Music also is incorporated into the curriculum in some way since there is no music teacher to teach the class for students.

“All the classes come at no cost for students,” Wesner said. “As a district, we try and limit costs for the overall budget.”

Wesner said the choir teacher tries to receive grants that are available for necessities that the choir program needs.

Attempts to speak to officials from Rogers City Area Schools were unsuccessful.

Julie Goldberg can be reached via email at jgoldberg@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.

Art Band Choir Drama

Alcona yes yes no yes

Alpena yes yes yes yes

Atlanta no yes no no

Hillman yes yes no no

Onaway yes yes no no

Posen yes no yes no

Rogers City N/A N/A N/A N/A