"If you could sing me the chart, Mr. Mervyn," I replied," I could memorize it all."

In my teenage years, I was a sideshow freak of sorts to some of my friends. They loved to challenge people to try to stump me in a game of music identification. The game involved people trying to play as little as possible of a song to see if I could guess the title of the song they were sampling. All I often needed was the opening note to know the name of the song. Music connected with me as it does with most people; it really touches our emotions.

My memories of Mr. Mervyn and the musical challenge game came to mind when I recently read about a study undertaken by Dr. Rena Upitis of Queen's University. Her three-year study is considered "the largest and most comprehensive assessment of the effect of the arts on academic achievement in Canadian history," in the opinion of Peter Simon, president of the Royal Conservatory of Music, in Toronto. Ms. Upitis's study found that students enrolled in Ontario's Learning Through the Arts (LTA) program scored 11 percentile points higher in mathematics than their peers in regular school programs. LTA schools teach the creative arts, but they also teach academics in a way that involves artists and artistic processes. Art permeates the curriculum in LTA schools and is not a "subject" compartmentalized into "x" hours.

The Royal Conservatory of Music created the LTA program in partnership with Toronto District school teachers and community-based artists. Its development was led by Angela Elster and supported by generous corporate sponsors. Ms. Elster is now the Executive Director of the LTA program. There are now 171 LTA schools in Canada, and LTA schools have recently emerged in New York and Stockholm. There are plans afoot for a school in London (England) soon, as well.

The success of LTA schools proves that schools cutting arts programs over lack of funding are making poor educational decisions. Public educators running high schools that focus on "core" (academic) subjects are making a grievous error in judgement, according to Ms. Upitis's findings. "The superior test scores of students in the Learning Through the Arts program are important. But the program's real story lies in the transformations, personal developments and awakenings that take place in young peoples' lives," said Peter Simon in reacting to the results of the study.

There's nothing like examples to underscore the findings of the study. In one Toronto school, a sculptor worked with a Social Studies teacher on a unit on Asia. As an assignment, students were asked to pick an Asian country and then make a sculpture with a one-line title that related to their selected country. One student created a piece entitled "The sorrow over the partition of Korea." It was made from fragments of broken rice bowls, chopsticks and rice paper. In a Calgary grade four class, a singer/songwriter helped a student having problems with Math. The artist suggested the boy consider the African origins of the blues as a way of dealing with life's difficulties. The whole class wound up writing a "Math Blues" timetable of rhymes about Math and the student scored very high in his next Math test.

When a CTV reporter went to Toronto's Westview Centennial Secondary School to interview students on their views of the LTA program, each student felt that the program had changed their lives for the better. Students specifically cited improved self-esteem as a result of the program. How great is that? This study and the stories derived from teacher experience in the LTA schools proves the value of arts education, not as a subject, but as a basis for all curricula instruction. The arts are not a frill, they are core to learning and that is probably why I wanted Mr. Mervyn to sing me the periodic table. Perhaps if an artist had been supporting Mr. Mervyn in his classroom, exactly that would have happened.

I am happy to know of the Queen's University study undertaken by Ms. Upitis, and I am very grateful to all involved that it was done. The findings of the study are valuable tools for parents and educators who value the arts and educational reform. Our school system reflects the political priorities of our government and, therefore, our population. Those of us in the arts must work to draw attention to the results of this study.

For more information on the study, or to order a hard copy of the study you can visit the Queen's University website at www.educ.queensu.ca/~arts and order your copy through their online bookstore.