This is my weekly column, but I have been writing on this issue for a few days over at www.livinginhanover.com. 

I remember going to see the musical during my sophomore year of high school. I don’t really remember why I went, but I will never forget how I watched guys I went to school with every day transform themselves into totally different people, in a good way.

At the time, I had my plate completely full with wrestling so I never gave jumping on stage a serious thought. But I never shook the feeling I got as I watched the musical each year.

With all the discussion of what’s going on with the music and drama programs at the Hanover schools, I have started to think back to those days. What if those guys never got that chance? One of them has actually ended up working as an actor in Hollywood. What if he didn’t get the experience of performing “West Side Story” in 1986?

That’s not to say that drama programs should only exist to give people the chance to eventually make it in Hollywood, but that does end up being the end result sometimes. Other times, performing on stage can help someone with confidence and focus. The guy I went to high school with who stuttered, but delivered his lines flawlessly, might agree.

I would also add stories here about how the guys in my school benefitted from the music program, but as a student of parochial schools and a college prep program in the 1970s and ’80s, I never took a music class that didn’t focus solely on singing church songs.

When I first heard about the opportunities my daughter had – violin in third grade and saxophone in fourth grade! – I almost fell over. She actually learned to read music and play songs.

My musical education consisted of Sister Benitia running us through weird vocal exercises before we cracked open the hymnal. Oh, and floundering on the guitar at my friend Dave’s house because that’s what 13-year-old boys did.

I can’t read music and have no chance at carrying a tune, but I wish I would have had a fighting chance to learn how to do those things while growing up.

That’s why the proposal from the Hanover school board distresses me. These are lifelong skills that can easily fit into the curriculum, and they have decided to toss them aside – not completely, but enough to make a dent into the experience for a lot of kids – for a fraction of the overall budget.

No one denies that school boards face tough decisions, but music, dance and performance often serve as the salve when times get tough. We all need something positive in the lean days. That can come from a championship sports team, but it can also come from a well-performed musical or a 9-year-old playing her first band concert.

Let’s not lose sight of that. Because the memories of watching those guys on stage 28 years ago helped me realize that I could get on stage for the first time at 40. I have loved every minute of that experience. Let’s not reduce the number of chances for kids to feel the same way.