Ed’s Story

I was attending a Colorado Senate hearing supporting a bill regarding student loan forgiveness on February 13, 2017. Turned out that on the agenda was a bill regarding music ed and the arts in Colorado public schools. Had to look up the bill quickly and read the summary right there in the hearing room. Senator Michael Merrifield, who sponsored the bill, is a retired music teacher.

While I hadn’t prepared or even signed up to testify, the Chair, Senator Ray Scott, opened the floor to anyone who would like to testify, so I jumped at the opportunity.

I introduced myself as the Chairman of the Spirit of Harmony Foundation. When the Chair heard Todd’s name, he perked up and started singing “Bang The Drum,” right there in the middle of hearing. Yeah he is a fan!!

Kept my remarks brief, focused on the signatures of poverty and the biological science. The sponsoring Senator had already spoken about the academic success of music students, so I just explained a bit about what developments take place in a child’s brain, which help produce those academic benefits.

Afterwards, I introduced myself to the Senator and we exchanged cards, so will reach out to him and see what else can be done here in Colorado. Later in hallway, I introduced myself to the Chair, who IMMEDIATELY asked when is Todd coming back to Denver, told him I would be in touch and let him know.

Oh… the bill, passed out of committee by a 5-0 vote for!! Three of the Senators are Republicans, two of which indicated earlier they would vote no. The Chair is also a republican, they all voted YES!!!!

– Ed Vigdor, ed@spiritofharmony.org