I have a research project I am pursuing this Thanksgiving month (Thursday, November 25, in the U.S.), and I would love to have others join me in their own personalized version of this process.
Immediately after I graduated from High School, my family moved to the other end of the state. That fall, I went to college, and did not return to the town of my High School until a class reunion a couple of years ago. The school was now a Middle School, the modular building used for the choir room was gone, and there was no trace of the legacy of my choir other than the auditorium where the accompanying picture of me was taken while I was performing Don McLean's American Pie.
The distance from that period of my life, the distance from the actual location, and most poignantly, the thought that a few people like me were the only legacy of that choral tradition, made me realize that I had some unfinished business from high school, middle school, and elementary school.
My research project this Thanksgiving month has been to identify all of my teachers, from High School back to early childhood, that made a memorable contribution to my education, values, and musical life, and to write to them individually to say “thank you.” I started with the earliest teachers; the ones that only parents think to thank–Mary Ewin Hadden (1st grade), Audrey Cox (2nd grade), Gertrude Lucas (3rd grade), Lucille Brooks (4th grade), Chester Marie Alcott (5th grade), Bethel Hatfield (6th grade)–they nurtured my love for music in church, school, and community, and incorporated music into many of my learning activities. I still recall important lessons through musical experiences offered by non-specialist teachers in my early school years. I cannot imagine what the confusing process of growing up would have been like without music as a mentor, and I thank my early childhood teachers for knowing that music is a natural part of life and learning.
I will also write to thank my junior high school band teacher, Robert Martin, for his endless patience as I struggled to learn to play the clarinet, when what I really wanted to play was the saxophone. I will thank my high school choral teacher, Jane Dressler, for rescuing me from chemistry by suggesting I join choir. She also suggested I sing American Pie for our school Variety Show, as she continued to encourage me to sing.
I will write them to say the two words that any teacher loves to hear, but doesn’t expect to hear: “Thank You.”
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