| In the world of public education, there is no greater civic ambassador than the high school marching band. With pomp and pageantry, a marching band is often times the only connection of a local community to the larger world. Though not formally attached to a school, drum corps also provide students a chance to represent a community as well during the summer months. With an emphasis on discipline, teamwork, and the constant quest for excellence, my experiences with the activity and subsequent research has led me to ask the question; Do marching arts alumni enjoy a greater satisfaction with life (educational attainment, income, elected office) than their peers? To measure this, the Satisfaction With Life Scale was used to quantify and give us insight into the benefits of the marching arts. The statistical procedures failed to demonstrate any statistically significant differences and there were a few weak correlations. The null hypotheses was not rejected. Qualitative, open-ended questions revealed that something about the marching band experience was impacting their quality of life as adults. Future studies should look at proving this cause. Though nothing was significant, there were some observed differences. Rather than let budget cuts end a beneficial and proud civic tradition, this study sought to give school leaders data that shows the arts, in the form of the marching arts, lead to a better quality of life which benefits the community, the state, and eventually, the nation as a whole. |
