Posted by Tim Cary on December 05, 2000 at 18:09:44:
In Reply to: High School Programs in Michigan posted by Rick Denney on December 05, 2000 at 13:22:53:
Michigan has excellent public school music programs for the most part. North of Jackson is Lansing, which has two fine schools with music programs; East Lansing and Okemos. Charlotte and Marshall are near Jackson, and they have very good school music programs. Jackson County Western (near Jackson itself) has a fine program, as do many Grand Rapids area schools (Jenison, Grandville, East Grand Rapids, Forest Hills Northern and Central, East Kentwood, just to name a few). I am from West Michigan, so I am not as familiar with schools in the South-Central part of the state, but for the most part the schools have excellent music programs. One important thing to note is that in Michigan, like many other states, the schools in wealthier areas have better music programs.
Part of what helps music education in Michigan is the high quality Music Education programs at many of the state universities. Michigan State, Western Michigan and Central Michigan have some of the best music schools for educators. Michigan has one of the best music programs in the country, but it seems to focus on Music Performance more than BME programs.
Lastly, Jackson is not such a small town, plus it is within an hour to hour and a half drive to Lansing, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Fort Wayne (IN) and the Detroit suburbs.