Kaitlyn Pleasants

ENC 3331
Professor Wright
Plan of Action: Music Education
Bringing Awareness
Bringing awareness to music education is not an easy task. Not every person
believes in the importance of having arts and music education included in school
curriculums, especially in public schools. To reach my target audience, there are
several ways that I can reach those who make budget decisions on keeping or
omitting music education programs.
Part One
My first plan of action is to compose a proposal to send to school board
members that make decisions based on how much money they have. Reaching these
stakeholders will go to the sole source of where and why this program is dwindling
across the United States. By presenting my views through a proposal, I can back up
my stance with key facts that these stakeholders take into account when meeting:
how students will be able retain information, test scores and overall student
performance. These three things, when paired with music discipline, are enhanced.
By having these stakeholders on my side, it helps with starting the second process of
my plan of action.
In this stage, I will also stress the budget go towards music educators to help
maintain and increase music education in public schools. Without music and arts
teachers, there is no program. Allocating funds for teachers salaries greatly

increases impact for young, impressionable students. This stage can be tricky, as
most board members tend to not lean in favor of adding more personnel to schools.
Should this part of my plan of action come to fruition, the second part of my plan is
easier to execute as Im starting my plan on a local level.
Audience: Local school board members and PTA
Part Two
Second, my rhetorical plan is to create an online campaign that can spread
across various social media platforms with a catchy hashtag that can lead to a
website that gives compelling information that music education is needed and
important for our students. This step is broken up into two parts. On Twitter, the
music channel Vh1 has a site that currently follows my personal Twitter, a nonprofit organization called Vh1 Saves the Music. Vh1 Saves the Musics campaign is
to raise money to give musical equipment and instruments to schools that do not
have music programs, which also helps in the fight to stop budget cuts to music
programs.
My campaign can work in conjunction with Saves the Music in making sure
that there is a budget for music programs and bringing awareness in how important
these programs are. By working with Saves the Music, each party can work towards
the same goal while still achieving their respective objectives. Saves the Music can
continue to raise money for musical equipment while my plan works on a local level
to make sure funds are allocated for music programs and educators.
By using social media, I can create the conversation of music education with
Saves the Music and also communicate my efforts on how there is impact on the

local scale of my plan of action. Social networking is easy to reach out to Vh1 Saves
the Music.
Audience: @Vh1SavestheMusic
Part Three
Having a catchy campaign, I have dubbed #KeeptheMusicAlive will be
recognizable and searable for those who want to see whats going on a local level.
From #KeepTheMusicAlives twitter and content thread, there will facts about how
music helps students brain fuction and confidence and links to ways that others can
get involved in the campaign. I added #KeepTheMusicAliveOC to specify the county
in which I currently live, Orange County, which hosts Orlando, Fla. area schools.
Audience: Students, parents, school board members
Part Four
I decided to create a website for #KeepTheMusicAlive to keep the campaign
different from Saves the Music even though I want the two to merge. Both
campaigns are advocating for the same goal; however, each campaigns missions are
a little bit different.
On the website will be information on how learning music increases brain
activity needed for better concentration and memory skills that is needed for core
curriculum classes as well as testimonials from local students themselves that have
benefitted from having an education with enriched music study. In the early stages,
there will be links to local organizations such as FMEA (Florida Music Education
Association), a board for music educators in the Orlando, Fla. area that also has

information and statistics on the benefits of learning an instrument with academic

study.

Part Five
I chose to make my rhetorical environment digital because students and
stakeholders alike (adults) are moving towards digital environments to gain
information and awareness on a variety of topics. Distributing this message
digitally has a better chance of virally spreading the word of the importance of
music education and also stirring up the conversation.
The Future
This campaign can lead to funding for commercials to air on local TV stations such
as WUCF, flyers to be passed around in mailboxes as well as other tangible
information.
I can also create local events that Save the Music can participate in. Since
Saves the Music donates instruments to schools that do not have music education,
we can have events with them when they do give instruments to schools, bringing
more awareness that there are people who truly believe in music education
programs.
I observed previous campaigns such as the 1990s campaign Mozart Makes
You Smarter as well as Vh1s Save the Music Campaign commercials. Unfortunately,
times have changed. Having a modern approach reflects the times that we are
currently in in order to gain as much impact as possible. My plan of action is the
wedge between the two. By having a campaign that advocates music education, we

are once bringing back the notion that Mozart does in fact make you smarter, and
with the success of my campaign, it can team up with Vh1 Saves the Music
Campaign.
Deliverables
Below are options of my plan of action that can be used.
Hashtags

#KeepTheMusicAlive
#SavetheMusicOrangeCounty
#KeeptheMusicAliveOC
Posts
Reaching out to a large non-profit such as Saves the Music is a huge risk in
this stage in my project. Marketing the first stage of my project has to be in a way
that is impactful and still reachable Saves The Music. A mock post would be:

@SavestheMusic I am a college student aware of the danger of music programs in

my county. Join me in the fight to end cutting music education programs!
#MoreMusic4Kids

On the websites social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, I can create one
central account for my #KeepMusicAlive campaign and use a hashtag designating
the school districts in Florida that currently do not have music education programs.
Posting a tweet such as:

Did you know that 1 and 4 students who learn an instrument earn higher grades
thn those who do not? #KeeptheMusicAliveOC

_% of students who attend UCF are on music scholarship. Music matters to young
lives. #SavetheMusicOrangeCounty