Cookstown joins in Canadian song day
By Susan Stein

Photo by Susan Stein Cookstown Central Public School students joined thousands of their peers across Canada recently, to celebrate Music Monday.

Cookstown Central Public School students joined in a nationwide celebration of the importance of music in our lives and schools recently.

In 2007, more than 1,500 schools and organizations participated in Music Monday, representing 650,000 students, parents teachers and music lovers. Music Monday drew 17.5 million measured media impressions and 25,000 visitors to its website each month. It is hoped this will be surpassed in 2008.

The Cookstown students joined with over 1,500 schools and musicians across the country at the same point in the day, to sing the same piece of music, Our Song, which was written by Dala. The students learned the song over the last few weeks, by listening to it over the school's PA system and practicing in their classrooms. They also combined their voices to sing their school song, which they wrote collaboratively with Bobby Boogaloo earlier in the year.

Leading up to Our Song, musicians from the student body performed piano, vocal, violin and guitar pieces to the delight of staff and students. It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the students and their talents.

Music is a skill that not only brings personal pleasure and the development of self-discipline, but has also been proven to positvely affect memory, learning of languages and heart rates. High school students who study music have higher grade point averages, develop faster physically and have improved listening skills. The top three academic countries in the world, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Japan all place a great emphasis on music education.