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LETTERS: Kudos to New Westminster music program

Dear Editor: Arts education should be one of the fundamentals that we provide our children. I loved your story about Mr. Clements, music director at NWSS ( New Westminster Record , April 5 edition). Teachers such as Mr.
Maya Russell
STEVE CLEMENTS
HELPING STUDENTS BELONG: Steve Clements, band teacher and music director at New Westminster Secondary School, works with Grade 12 music student Ekaterina Della Vedova. Clements has been working at the school for 17 years. He went into education after graduating from Capilano University’s music program. It started out as a way to make money but ended up the right fit for him, he says.

Dear Editor: Arts education should be one of the fundamentals that we provide our children.

I loved your story about Mr. Clements, music director at NWSS (New Westminster Record, April 5 edition). Teachers such as Mr. Clements provided a refuge to me in my high school years. The music room was a place where I was challenged to learn new things, where I felt I could be myself, and where I could be a leader.

Music and arts education should not just be a privilege for those families who can afford private lessons. We need more opportunities like these for all kids to learn the complex skills of music and art and to be touched by the power of human expression. Kudos to the NWSS music program and the parents who put so much into supporting it.

Maya Russell, New Westminster