Lancaster New Era December 1, 2007 Believing in the power of music. This ex-pro basketball player says music, like sports, teaches teamwork, communication and time management skills. By Chad Umble Lancaster New Era Staff Conestoga, PA In 1979, John Gerdy was on the cusp of an NBA dream. He had just completed a record-setting basketball career at North Carolina's Davidson College and was drafted by the New Jersey Nets. While the 6-5 shooting guard didn't didn't make the Nets that year, he played professionally in the Continental Basketball Association and reported the following fall to the Golden State Warriors training camp. But when he failed to make that team, he decided it was time to move on. "You know what, I don't want to be 27, 28, 29 and have nothing to show for it," Gerdy recalls thinking. Today, Gerdy's basketball experience influences his thinking about one of his other interests: music. While Gerdy doesn't discount the teamwork, discipline, communication and time-management skills he learned in school sports, he says music can teach students all that and more. "Not only does (music) do those things like sports can do, but it also dramatically improves math skills, reading skills, your logic skills, your creativity - all those kinds of things," he says. In 2005, Gerdy, 50, of Conestoga, founded Music For Everyone, a non-profit organization that supports music-education programs in schools and community groups. On Friday evening, downtown Lancaster's numerous art galleries, as well as a number of other businesses, participated in the first-ever Music Friday, which brought live music to more than 25 locations. Gerdy helped bring musicians and business owners together, and the proceeds from the event, including donations from the public as well as a percentage of sales from some of the businesses, will go to Music for Everyone. Believing in the power of music, Gerdy says he was troubled by cuts being made to school music programs. In March, Music For Everyone distributed $16,000 in grants, many aimed at buying new school instruments or repairing old ones. Gerdy says he hopes to donate $30,000 in March 2008. Among the awards was a grant that helped buy instruments for a school that couldn't afford mouthpieces for every clarinet. Gerdy recalls watching one clarinet student practice the instrument's fingering without being able to make a sound for lack of a mouthpiece. "(Kids) pick up and understand where the priorities are," says Gerdy, adding that students consequently may give up on music. But with a real investment in music education, Gerdy says, students can reap a lifetime of benefits. In contrast, Gerdy argues that school sports such as football usually end at graduation. "Ninety-nine point nine percent of kids in high school football, the last game they play as a senior is the last game they'll ever play," Gerdy says. While Gerdy's sports career continued longer than most - and made him the all-time scoring leader at Davidson - he eventually had to move on too. After quitting professional basketball, he went back to school and earned a Ph.D. in higher education from Ohio University. From 1986 to 1989 he worked as legislative assistant for the NCAA, then took a job as associate commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, one of the nation's premier college athletic conferences There, Gerdy says, he saw firsthand how the balance between athletics and academics is "out of whack," creating a country of sports-mad couch potatoes. "We're obsessed with the elite sports, and that is just a small percentage of people. Everyone else is being pushed to the sidelines to watch as fans," Gerdy says. He left the SEC job in 1995 and became a stay-at-home dad after the birth of his daughter. Gerdy now lives on a 50-acre farm in Conestoga near Sickman's Mill with his wife, Fallon Smith, and their two children. The family moved to the circa-1850 farmhouse in 1998 when Smith got a job as an executive at Armstrong World Industries. She now works as a corporate consultant. In his stay-at-home role, Gerdy also teaches as a visiting professor at Ohio University and continues to write extensively on sports and society. His latest book, published in 2006, is "Air Ball: America's Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics." John Gerdy - Founder of Music for Everyone During a meeting Thursday at his home, Gerdy sported several days' worth of stubble and, as he talked, monitored one of his two German Shepherds, who couldn't decide whether to be inside or outside. Often speaking in complete paragraphs, Gerdy explained the nuances of his arguments in favor of putting more music in schools. In one example, he tied support for school music to community development by pointing out that good school music programs attract people to an area. "People do check out the school systems," he says. In addition to his work with Music For Everyone, Gerdy cares for the farm and plays with his blues band, The Willie Marble Xperience. In his various activities, Gerdy says his overriding concern has remained finding the right way to educate students for the future. While athletics can teach valuable lessons, they shouldn't be favored over the arts, he says. "The single most powerful tools in our educational arsenal to teach creativity - thinking outside of the box - are the arts, music and the arts," he says. ### Help cultivate the power of music. Click on the Donate button to make a contribution via our PayPal account (new browser window will open). Send your tax deductible contribution to: Music for Everyone 321 East Fulton Street Lancaster, PA 17602 717-871-1710 john@musicforeveryone.net