J. A. Fair Choirs

8th graders going to Central! 👀

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🎶 A remarkable inaugural season for Little Rock Central High School’s advanced competitive tenor bass chorus, Legacy Tenor Bass! They wrapped up their very first year with outstanding achievements that set a high standard for years to come.

Under the direction of Mr. Drew Warren, the ensemble earned top honors throughout the season, including 7A Medium Tenor Bass Chorus State Runner-Up at the State Choral Festival and received the Sweepstakes Award for superior performance, sight-reading, and state contest ratings.

Congratulations to these talented student musicians!🎼

We’re so excited for Friday night! Come support your War Eagle choir ✨

🎶 Why Music Education Matters 🎭

Music and arts education play such an important role in helping students grow both inside and outside the classroom. While subjects like math, science, and reading are essential, the arts help students develop creativity, confidence, discipline, teamwork, and communication skills that support success in every area of life.

Research continues to show that students involved in music programs often experience positive academic and personal benefits, including stronger attendance, improved engagement in school, and higher academic achievement. According to studies shared by organizations like NAfME (National Association for Music Education) and Music Will, music education can support literacy development, critical thinking, collaboration, and social-emotional growth.

At J.A. Fair Choirs, we see these benefits every day. Music gives students a place to express themselves, work toward goals, build friendships, and take pride in their accomplishments. Whether students are learning their first warm-up, preparing for a concert, or growing in confidence on stage, they are developing skills that will help them far beyond the choir room.

The arts help create well-rounded students, and we are proud to provide opportunities for our students to learn, create, and shine through music. 🎶💙💚

We are grateful to Ms. Conley from Our Lady of the Holy Souls Catholic School for joining us to work with some of our singers yesterday! 🎵
This semester, our singers are navigating numerous firsts as we foster a culture of trust, discipline, respect, and teamwork. I applaud these students for being attentive and ready to learn on the fly. Great job War Eagle singers! 🦅

“Children Who Keep a Beat Learn to Read Better—Science Shows How

Research shows that rhythm skills in early childhood are closely tied to language and reading development. Preschoolers who can accurately clap or tap to a beat score up to 30% higher on phonological awareness and pre-reading assessments compared to peers with weaker rhythm skills (Gordon et al., 2020).

Brain studies reveal why: children with stronger rhythm abilities have sharper neural entrainment to speech sounds, meaning their brains respond more precisely to syllables and phonemes—critical for decoding words. This neural precision predicts better reading fluency and comprehension in elementary school.

In 2024, a study tested a six-week rhythm-training program in elementary children. Students who engaged in daily 20-minute rhythm games improved reading fluency by 15–20% compared to a control group, demonstrating that musical rhythm practice directly enhances literacy skills (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2024).

Reading itself is rhythmic: the brain must track speech patterns, predict upcoming sounds, and organize language into meaningful units. Children with poor rhythm processing often struggle to segment words, which is why early rhythm skills can prevent later reading difficulties.

Activities like clapping to music, tapping along with songs, or interactive rhythm games strengthen the auditory-motor pathways in the brain and improve attention, working memory, and processing speed—foundational skills for reading and language.

Sources: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2024; Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 2021; Tierney & Kraus, 2013; Gordon et al., 2020."”

Cited: Elementary Music Teachers Facebook Group