Support : Sing for Success!

We enthusiastically support Sing for Success! and the goal of ensuring music “literacy” (the ability to read and write music) and academic achievement for children through vocal music education.

We congratulate the Washington County Board of Education’s visionary efforts to guarantee an academically strong and holistic education for the county’s children. As parents and as donors to Children’s Chorus of Maryland & School of Music (CCM) and to Sing for Success!, we recognize the fundamental value of this research project. We passionately support CCM’s efforts of as they seek to establish a strong and viable public/private initiative in Washington County, Maryland.

Our family participates with CCM on many levels – all three of our children are choral students, we volunteer our time, we love to attend recitals and — indicative of our love — we donate substantially. CCM and Sing for Success! are the largest donations from our family foundation. In fact, we are so excited that Sing for Success! is our first multiyear pledge. We have defined our foundation’s mission as protecting the health and welfare of women and children. We felt that the importance of this research for the betterment of education of all children was too important for us to pass up.

Research shows a strong association between formal music training and cognitive development. We are excited to broaden that association to include formal vocal training, to provide the framework for our children to tackle complexity in their studies and in their lives. Sing for Success! is an opportunity to research this theory guided by some of the most committed and skilled educators. We hope that the documentation of this project will become a powerful foundation for combining music literacy with vocal education in our schools. It is as exciting as it is important for us to help meet their goals and to be a part of this educational shift.

Please accept our challenge to you to join us in supporting the landmark Sing for Success! project.

Scott Plank and Dana DiCarlo
J.S. Plank and D.M. DiCarlo Family Foundation