We’ve Lost that Patriotic Feeling! Spirit of America – the reasons.
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the recent anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, gave millions of Americans an opportunity to think about their country and how they fit in to its history. Growing up in the 60s was a very patriotic time. Elementary school-age children learn not only their ABC’s, but they learned about the importance of being a patriotic American. We learned all of the great patriotic songs, God bless America, my country ‘Tis of thee, and songs like that. They were ingrained in our psyche. Like little robots we could recite the words and music of those patriotic songs with ease. Today, as I travel throughout the country and perform for literally hundreds of thousands of children, I’m finding that our kids American identity has become diluted, and probably the only thing that they can recite is what songs are on the last release of guitar hero or rock band video games.
after the attack on the World Trade Center I was moved to create a school assembly that I thought might instill a new sense of patriotism in a new generation of children. Most of the kids that are seeing that assembly today, are too young to remember how it felt when our country was attacked. I hope that the spirit of America with the focus on patriotic songs and the history of the composers in the framework in which the songs were written have an impact on the kids so that a sense of patriotism will be carried through the rest of their lives. There’s no reason why our kids shouldn’t be proud Americans like we were proud Americans growing up in the 60s and 70s. The show features songs sung in a concert theater style venue along with lyrics for the kids to follow with. It is my hope, that the kids won’t need to use the words on the screen. That will be up to the Principals and the music teachers and the social studies teachers to teach their kids these songs which will make them better citizens and better members of the American Society. There any questions about the spirit of America program, please direct them to my e-mail.




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