Drama and art involvement fosters students' abilities to learn, reason, think creatively, make decisions and solve problems, yet, according to the local arts council, the Adair County School System no longer offers a drama program in any of its six schools. The Arts Council hopes citizens will let their school board members know that the arts is as important as sports for the following reasons:

Teenagers who experience music or drama in high school enjoy a 42-point advantage on standardized math tests compared to those who had taken no arts studies (studies by the U.S. College Board). Visual art students have better scores in math and English than those who study computer programming and data processing.

Overall, drama students receive more A's and B's in English class, are almost four times less likely to drop out and are more likely to participate in community service, according to the 1997 Profile of College-bound seniors from the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Drama students learn personal responsibility for the quality of their work, collaboration and team effort, organization, positive thinking, independence and the ability to adapt to change.

Drama students also learn logical thinking and problem solving. Acting develops good diction, storytelling and poetic ability. Sets, lighting, special effects and sound teaches physics and math. Students also learn about history, human nature, and cultural empathy and diversity.

The Adair County Arts Council is calling for members of the community to contact the local Board of Education (384-2476) and ask your school board member to defend the introduction of a drama program with continued funding. For information about the Arts Council, contact Jeff or Henrietta Scott or Jane Aaron.