New Networking Tool for Sinfonians

The Sinfonia Circle has just been opened!

Basically it's a fantastic networking site for Sinfonians. After just briefly looking through it myself, I have to recommend that everybody sign up for it.

Any Sinfonians who have not recieved an email regarding this site, but would like to be a part of it, just email me and I'll get you signed up.

Stepping into a Leadership Role

I've decided that even with all that I have going on, that an opportunity I was presented with for this summer could not be turned down. As a student of Educational Leadership and Administration at GW I am required to do a 150 hour administrative internship.

Well, as it turns out, WEDJ was also looking for a Summer School Coordinator. So, this summer I will be Summer School Coordinator for grades PreK-6. I am very excited about this opportunity!

A lot is happening already. I am meeting frequently with the leadership team so that we can have a solid plan ready by the end of Spring Break. That's when we're hoping to send out the flyer.

I just don't think I would have found a better opportunity to really get my feet wet with site based leadership. It's going to be intense, for certain, and stressful to boot. But, I believe this is the best formal induction into Educational Leadership I could have asked for!

An Encounter from the Past

I attended the Eastern Divisional MENC Conference in Hartford, Connecticut the latter part of this past week. There, I attended a lot of useful sessions, made some new connections, and reconnected with some old ones.

One in particular was my music teacher from middle school who helped inspire me to continue with music right around a time of hopelessness, when my father had committed suicide.

Anyway, we had a touching conversation and I felt compelled to write to her afterwards. I want to share with you all what I said.

What follows is a slightly edited version of the letter, just to protect my former teachers' identity and interests!

Dear Mrs. XXXXX
I just wanted to say that seeing you the other day brought back a lot
of memories. When you see people from your past sometimes, it puts
things in perspective a little. In many ways, you were probably the
most important teacher I ever had. You were my music teacher during
what was most definitely the most difficult time in my life and, I
often wonder, if it wasn't for you and your inspiration, if I'd even
be alive today let alone married, successful and happy. It was music
and the wonderful teachers I had who encouraged me through it all that
made the difference. And amidst all of the technicalities, the
out-of-tune notes, the diaphragmatic breathing, duple meter, triple
meter, mixed meter.... there is something about music that truly
inspirational to all of us and trascends culture, emotions, and can be
a bridge into the best of us. It's very easy to think of our craft as
mathematical and almost simplistic. But, even after all I've learned,
I still see the magic.

That being said, I love everything about what I do. I love the glow in their eyes when they finally get something. I love seeing them carrying flowers with their
parents back to their vehicles after a concert well done. I don't feel
sorry for my students.... rather I demand a lot of them, knowing that
if they have the passion, they will achieve it, and they do.

Twice, just today, I was told by students who most teachers might
consider unlikely, that I was their favorite teacher. One even went so
far as to say that he didn't think he'd like me when he met me, but
now he realizes that he does. That was a powerful statement. It gives
me hope that maybe, in some way, I've been able to give this student
the inspiration he couldn't find anywhere else but in music.

Because of all this, when I read the papers and see how music
programs are being treated by various administrations throughout the
country, it alarms me greatly. How could something that saved my life
be what administrators are now considering expendable? What would have
happened to me if I had not had as wonderful a teacher as you? It's a
scary prospect.

And that's why I feel my calling in the realm of educational
leadership. There are ways to solve this problem. It's not going to be
easy, but there are ways. You said to me the other day that the
administration is constantly demanding we show exactly how music is
benefiting the students (and by students they most surely mean test
scores). We all understand how, but, you're right. It's difficult to
show those who have no idea. And, the truth is, I don't think it
should be the music teachers responsibility to constantly have to
prove this time and time again. The evidence is already there in the
research. It's time for the administrators to come to us and ask us
what they can best do to fit us into the curriculum because for some
students music may truly mean the difference between life and death. I
feel that I may have the ability to contribute to that movement one
day and I hope that I can be a force in giving more and more students
the opportunity that you afforded me.

Anyway, I'm sorry about my ramblings, but I guess you can't blame me
for being verbose about this topic! Attached is a poor quality
recording of one of my Kindergarten classes for your enjoyment! It's so amazing what even the youngest of students can achieve when you put the right tools in their
hands. I can't wait to hear this group of kids when they get older!

Again, it was so nice to see you this past week. I hope all is going
well. Please keep in touch!
Your former student,
Ben

Just a quick response...

...to a comment posted to my last post.

I don't neccesarily think that using a standardized test is a good idea for arts education. Mostly, my suggestions is that if the trends continue in the direction they are headed with "No Child Left Behind," and it looks like they will no matter who controls the White House or Congress, then that may be the only way to adapt to keep us, as an industry, from fizzling out completely or simply becoming an avenue to teach other, non-artistic things.

I don't disagree that it is a scary prospect. But, it may be the reality we face.