Music provides an outlet for our emotions, whether you are happy, sad, or indifferent. It also serves another important role: helping us to feel as if we are part of a community. “Finding Harmony During a Pandemic” features various members of the community of learning at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts discussing how music was important to their lives, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Various members of our community—from an alumna who is a songwriter in Nashville, to our band director, to a student studying how certain music affects our brains, to our school's licensed mental health counselor—share the role of music in their lives, and what it tells us about our society—both nearby and as a whole. The story also featured a Spotify playlist of songs created from suggestions of songs by students, faculty, staff, and alumni that they enjoy in happy and sad times, road trips, and when they just need a break to enjoy their favorite tunes.
From the Judges
An impressive piece, considering the lack of expense and relatively small cohort working on it. A model for larger or more well endowed institutions on how to accomplish more with less.
