North Carolina Music Educator Summer 2023

Across the Districts
Violins for Hope
District 5
There’s been some great work done by the music educators in
District 5 this past year. We celebrated many Teachers of the Year
awards, and grants received to support school and community
performances. We’re also fortunate to have successful summer
music camps that have endured and flourished post-pandemic.
Brent Davis, Anna Griffith, and Theresa Kennedy were
recognized as Teachers of the Year at their respective middle
schools: Mendenhall, Northwest and Meadowlark. Austin Beasley,
Ashley Hayes and Emily Hermanson were Teachers of the Year at
Whitaker, Union Cross and Sedge Garden Elementary Schools,
respectively. Chris Garmon was Teacher of the Year at the Career
Center, while Hillary Bellinger was the Teacher of the Year at
Parkland High School.
Oakwood Elementary School received grant funds from the
Caswell Council for the Arts for their production of Lion King Jr.
Julia Fair, also in Caswell County, received a Bright Ideas Grant for
a production of Lion King Jr. at North Elementary. The Arts Council
of Winston-Salem surpassed the previous year’s goal of funds
designated to the Arts-In-Education Grant, which is awarded for
visiting artists and performers in Forsyth County schools.
MPA events trended toward pre-pandemic participation and
quality. Several bands, choruses and orchestras are back to attending
contests and students are continuing to grow as members of
performing ensembles. Community performances also increased
with ensembles performing at local feeder schools to recruit new
students and retain those currently enrolled in music programs.
School board performances became a trend.
Summer music camps continue to thrive, providing students
with outstanding instruction and performance opportunities.
The Cannon Music Camp at Appalachian State University offers
individual and group instruction in a variety of settings. The
summer of 2022 was Cannon’s first return to an in-person camp
since 2019, with enrollment 99% higher than the number of
returning students they enrolled pre-pandemic.
Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Summer Youth (Band) Camp is open
to students from beginning band to rising college freshmen. In
2022, they accepted 44 middle schoolers and 28 high schoolers who
were both day campers and overnight campers as well. This year the
camp is July 10-14.
Summer Music Camp at UNC Greensboro is considered
“America’s Most Popular”, long recognized as a national leader in
musical excellence. Their enrollment is up almost 200 students
compared to last year, serving over 2,040 musicians. UNCG’s
Summer Music Camp takes place July 9 – 14 and 16 – 21.
We extend heartfelt gratitude and congratulations to our recently
retired music educators, including NCMEA past president Dr. Carol
Earnhardt. We wish you the best on your future endeavors!
District 6
Ron Forsh
District 5 President
District5@ncmea.net
The music programs across District 6 have been active during
the spring semester. Chorus, band, and orchestra programs
participated in MPA events and county based festivals. Many
schools also participated in adjudicated events or workshops at
Carowinds, Universal Studios, Broadway, and Walt Disney World.
In March, the Ardrey Kell High School Chamber Orchestra
performed at the National Orchestra Festival in Orlando, directed
by Amanda Turner. Two ensembles marched in the National
Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C.: Cox Mill High School,
led by Adam Singer, and David W. Butler High School, led by
Andrew Francis.
The Northwest School of the Arts music department performed
Karl Jenkins’ “The Peacemakers” on April 27, and featured students
from seventh/eighth grade chorus, mixed chamber choir, wind
ensemble, chamber orchestra, symphonic orchestra, handbells, and
advanced piano. This collaboration was rehearsed and directed by
Ashleigh Cook (band), Erica Hefner (orchestra), Aaron Lafreniere
(MS chorus/handbells), Stephanie Madsen (HS chorus) and Kristin
Stonnell (piano).
Several teachers also won regional and national awards. Crystal
Briley (University Park Creative Arts School) is one of 30 teachers
nationwide recognized in 2023 by the CMA Foundation as Music
Teacher of Excellence. Jan Lauro (Community House Middle
School) received a Cato Lifetime Achievement in Teaching Award
and O’Shae Best (Crestdale Middle School) and Crystal Briley
were given Excellence in Teaching awards by the Arts and Science
Council.
Julia Winegardner
District 6 President
District6@ncmea.net
by Angela Ammerman
The children didn’t speak English and they did not own any
instruments, but they understood a smile, the tilt of your
head, the open hand toward the violin case. They knew I
was there to teach songs, and they were captivated by the gift of
music.
Mayuree, who had witnessed the beheading of her own mother,
caught on to playing the violin like wildfire. Her passion for music
extended far into the wee hours of the night until she had to be told
to pack up over and over again. At last, she would say sweetly in
Thai, “Just one more song?”
Anurak, who had been living in a
makeshift dog house before coming
to Hope House, loved dancing so
much he would break into the biggest
smile and immediately run to get
his best friend the minute the music
started. In 2018, I traveled to the
Hope House Children’s Home in
Chiang Mai, Thailand, to teach songs,
dances, and violin to prepare the
children for their Cowboy Christmas
Festival. Going in with the mindset
that I was there to teach them, I
had no idea how much they would
actually teach me.
A Hope House Children’s Home class with their violins.
The children of Hope House are
mostly from the mountainous regions of Chiang Mai where they
often have been abandoned and neglected with no means for an
education, for love, and even for survival. Children are sometimes
dropped off at the orphanage; other times, they are brought in
by tribal elders. Sometimes, the parents themselves will throw
the children into the Hope House truck and run away, knowing
that the child will be cared for and protected. Hope House takes
in these children and provides them with a home, an education,
and a family. Many of the kids don’t speak Thai when they first
arrive. Rather, they speak a tribal language that few understand.
The children take it upon themselves to look after one another, the
older kids teaching the younger, protecting their “siblings,” and
embracing each other regardless of language, or skin color, or tribe.
On the first day of my visit, the children were so excited,
they arrived 30 minutes early! In that first lesson, I assigned
instruments, taught them how to hold and play the violins, and
reinforced posture and instrument care. The first time they opened
the cases, many of the children were hesitant to even touch the
instruments. When asked about this, the director said, “They
believe the violin is for the rich. They are afraid to touch something
so valuable.” I would imagine many of our students here in the U.S.
may feel this very same way when they first join orchestra.
Although I rarely spoke English during lessons and they rarely
spoke Thai, there was no question
that the students understood to
lift their instruments when I did,
to place their fingers upon the
strings when I nodded, and to
pluck the string after they heard
me pluck. Direct eye contact and a
smile indicated success and a quick
individual demonstration indicated
the need to fix something. Soon,
we developed a kind of a language
of our own, in which my students
completely understood my various
facial expressions, gestures, and
sound effects.
In spite of the language barriers, the
students progressed remarkably quickly. By the end of day one, the
students could pluck “Hot Cross Buns.” By the end of day two, they
could play traditional Thai folk songs. On the third day, I happened
upon Batira, who had been abandoned in the woods multiple times
by her mother, until one day, exhausted by the constant rescue
efforts, the tribal elders brought her to Hope House. Batira was
not old enough for the violin just yet, but there she was, holding a
violin.
Next to her was Rattae, demonstrating where to put her fingers,
speaking rapidly in a language I had never heard. By the end of
that day, Batira (second grade), under the direction of fourth
grader Rattae, had already caught up to all of the other fourth
grade violinists. On the tenth day, the students had performed
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