Dear Friends:

If my experience in Northern Ireland has taught me anything, it is that financial and commercial support for education promotes not only peace, but also prosperity. Investment in future generations produces unquantifiable dividends. Such prosperity is currently being cultivated in Caribou, Maine, where a united community seeks to build a center for music education.

Of the Irish, it is often said that they will sing at a drop of a hat. Seeing U2's Bono on stage celebrating the Good Friday Agreement with the political leaders who negotiated the peace deal in Northern Ireland signifies the importance of music as a critical means to facilitate expression, unification, collaboration, optimism, and advancement. Statistics and public opinion show that music education greatly enhances a student's ability to comprehend and perform in numerous academic subjects, namely reading, math, and science. Students with a music education perform better in school, receive more awards, and are more likely to move on to higher education. Additionally, music education provides vast social benefits and facilitates a more cohesive civil society. Those of us outside of Aroostook County can take note of the music committee's work in order to prove to our own communities that a music education is a necessary aspect of every child's education.

In the same vain that music formed a critical medium in Northern Ireland, the Caribou initiative will provide a much needed investment of interest, finance, sponsorship, and optimism to northern Maine's next generation. The community's work to raise money and construct such a facility is commendable. We cannot let this opportunity go without a wholehearted and complete commitment of individual, commercial, and organizational financial support. Funding institutions need to commit to the project in the same vain as the former students, producing significant benefits for all parties involved.

Funders who invest in this project, not only invest in bricks and mortar, but also in the lives of all of our children and young adults who will benefit from the opportunities that a music education offers. Projects like the Caribou High School Music Building Fund initiative provide necessary hopes for everyone's tomorrow-hope that our children can better study music, hope that students receive the best education possible, and hope that the next generation will take an active role in civil society.

Sincerely yours,
George J. Mitchell