Have you noticed music blaring—sometimes a little too loudly—during lunch on the Fridays of this month, or have you wondered what the colossal purple and white “Music In Our Schools Month” banner in the third-floor stairway means?

Tri-M Music Honor Society is celebrating Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM), and they’re making sure EHS is informed.

According to the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) website, “music educators and students throughout the United States and overseas are demonstrating this March the powerful role a quality music program plays in the lives of young people.”

Tri-M Music Honor Society, formerly Modern Music Masters, is a NAfME program that focuses on creating leaders in music education and advocacy and celebrates MIOSM to raise awareness about music programs and the need for quality programs for students.

“Tri-M celebrates MIOSM because as musicians, music is a giant part of our lives, and it’s what makes us happy,” senior and orchestra Tri-M chair Emily Crutchfield said, “so we want to share what we love with the school while helping them learn a little about what goes on in the EHS Music Department.”

EHS has a history of musical influence, from our award-winning band and orchestra, to our dominant choral programs.

To honor it, Tri-M has planned many events throughout the month of March, such as playing different genres of music during lunch on Fridays, commercials in the morning announcements and a game called the “Quarter Note Quest.” The game gives students a chance to win candy if they know the answer to a music trivia question on the back of a flyer.

Senior and Tri-M President Miranda Mobley said this is not the first year EHS has celebrated it.

“(This) is the first year that there has been such a push to make sure nearly every student in our school knows about it,” Mobley said. “With the potential for our programs to be cut back or cut altogether, we need as much support as we can get.

“I am hoping people will notice the music students and how much they love their craft.”

Crutchfield believes MIOSM will drive students to appreciate and acknowledge the music at EHS.

“My biggest hope is that people won’t take for granted how awesome of a performing arts department we have.”