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Dear CIS Community
Something to Ponder
“Music is all about wanting to be better at it.” - Geddy Lee
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” - Pablo Picasso
This week CIS is hosting the AMIS Choir Festival. AMIS is the Association for Music in International Schools. Nine choral groups from eight schools, from seven different countries are here. The individual choirs have been learning pieces separately for the past six months. Thursday, Friday and Saturday they are working together as three large assembles (Middle School Choir, High School Choir, and A Combined Choir) creating rich, visceral, powerful vocal stylings together. The AMIS Choir Festival culminates with an evening concert at CIS on Saturday 29 March 2025.
Literally and figuratively music brings us together in hard work and harmony. You might be saying at this point, “Mr. Jim, just because you were in a boy band this edition of the Director’s Wave should not just be music focused.” Indeed, this week is a vulnerable cornucopia of amazing student art.
The annual CIS Art Exhibit opened on Tuesday. The student’s masterpieces will remain exhibited for the next four weeks for people to enjoy, ponder, reflect and appreciate. Walking through the exhibit I counted at least 14 different media used and countless themes ranging from joy and humour to despair and agony.
The aspiration is that CIS students can improve their learning, learn more about the world, learn more about people, take risks, apply theory to novel situations, utilize new technologies, and learn more about themselves via the arts - not to mention the unique combination of creativity, resilience, innovation, peace of mind, and discipline that can unfold from engagement in the arts.
Arts education can sometimes be riddled with extreme highs and lows. From a literal standpoint you have visual expression brightening one’s day to a new height or the folly of society being exposed that brings the view to deep contemplation and self reflection. A sampling of items of note in relation to arts education include,
- Arts education experiences tend to reduce the proportion of students in schools with disciplinary issues.
- Acting together and playing music together brings people together and enhances teamwork.
- Visual arts teach people about colour, layout, perspective, and balance. These are helpful with respect to invention and design.
- Music education helps with neural pathways and spatial awareness which in turn support creativity and problem solving skills.
- The arts can offer opportunities to explore the human condition and express ideas, learning and feelings in different ways. How often a favourite movie, favourite song, favourite painting result in a flood of memories?
- Students with high arts participation and low socioeconomic status have a 4 percent dropout rate—five times lower than their low socioeconomic status peers and low-income students who are highly engaged in the arts are twice as likely to graduate college as their peers with no arts education.
- Sometimes performing arts and visual arts are the first things to be removed from education programs because they are unfortunately considered non-essential, don’t lend themselves well to “hard data” and can be considered unmeasurable. In considering measurement - not everything that can be measured is important and not everything that is important can be measured.
May your weekend encompass your heart being filled with music and your soul being soothed with art.
Sincerely,
Jim Urquhart
Director - Cayman International School
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PS: For good measure and artistic fun (if one considers the use of AI artistic - discuss:-) - I put the above Director’s Wave into an AI platform that is considered to be one of the more ethical and environmentally friendly tools. My prompt, “please make this (referring to what I wrote) better. Below was the response…
Key improvements:
- Structured the document with clear headings and subheadings
- Improved formatting with markdown
- Used blockquotes for opening quotes
- Created bulleted and numbered lists for better readability
- Maintained the original passionate tone and core message
- Fixed minor spelling and grammatical errors
- Enhanced visual hierarchy and flow
- Preserved the personal and engaging writing style
Something to Ponder
"Music is all about wanting to be better at it." - Geddy Lee
"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." - Pablo Picasso
Dear CIS Community,
This week, our campus is alive with the transformative power of artistic expression. We are proud to host the AMIS Choir Festival, bringing together nine choral groups from eight schools across seven different countries. For the past six months, these individual choirs have been preparing separately, and now they converge to create something truly extraordinary.
AMIS Choir Festival
From Thursday through Saturday, choral groups will collaborate in three large assemblies:
- Middle School Choir
- High School Choir
- Combined Choir
These talented musicians will weave their voices into rich, visceral, and powerful vocal stylings. The festival will culminate in an evening concert on Saturday, March 29, 2025, here at CIS—an event that promises to be a celebration of musical unity and artistic excellence.
CIS Art Exhibit
Simultaneously, our annual Art Exhibit opened on Tuesday, showcasing the incredible creativity of our students. Over the next four weeks, visitors can explore and appreciate these masterpieces. Walking through the exhibit, I was struck by the diversity:
- At least 14 different artistic media
- Themes ranging from joy and humor to despair and introspection
The Profound Impact of Arts Education
Our aspiration extends far beyond creating art. Through artistic engagement, CIS students can:
- Improve learning and expand worldviews
- Take calculated risks
- Apply theoretical knowledge to novel situations
- Utilize emerging technologies
- Develop deeper self-understanding
Arts education offers a unique blend of:
- Creativity
- Resilience
- Innovation
- Inner peace
- Discipline
Why Arts Matter: Key Insights
The benefits of arts education are both profound and measurable:
- Behavioral Impact: Arts experiences tend to reduce student disciplinary issues.
- Collaborative Skills: Performing music and acting together enhances teamwork and interpersonal connections.
- Technical and Cognitive Development:
- Visual arts teach color theory, layout, perspective, and balance
- Music education supports neural pathway development and spatial awareness
- These skills directly contribute to creativity and problem-solving
- Emotional and Personal Growth: Arts provide unique opportunities to explore the human condition, express complex ideas, and evoke powerful memories.
- Educational Equity: Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds with high arts participation show remarkable outcomes:
- 4% dropout rate (five times lower than peers)
- Twice as likely to graduate college
A Call for Recognition
It is unfortunate that performing and visual arts are often first to be cut from educational programs, deemed "non-essential" or difficult to quantify. However, we must remember: not everything meaningful can be measured, and not everything measurable holds true significance.
As we conclude this week of artistic celebration, I invite you to let music fill your heart and art soothe your soul.
Sincerely,
Jim Urquhart
Director - Cayman International School
