| Contributing Author - Wendell Weaver (III) |
| Friday, 11 January 2008 | |
Chicago Music Association poet laureate Wendell Weaver shares his memories in an introspective piece entitled Music Education III.The climate changed at South Shore High School. The very first day the students were sent home from school because a boy stabbed another with a fork. They were gambling in the auditorium and one took the other’s quarter. Wow Wee. Next day, some students did not go to class. Instead they spread a blanket on the lawn and had themselves a picnic. Later on, some students were caught by the police for breaking into neighboring homes. They set themselves up to have a grand old party. The hallways were like Grand Central Station. The students were late for class all the time. I said to myself, “What kind of school did I transfer into? What kind of place is this?” But, before I could transfer out The Board transferred the bad principal and brought in a good principal. He had each teacher to be on their post and not having coffee in the lunchroom. They had to keep up with their students at all times and see that students did their work. Teachers had to be on time themselves. They were not allowed to leave the school before the end of the day. The principal gave no special privileges, but we could go to him if there was a problem. I said to myself, “Wow Wee, this is the type of principal I would like to work for.” But the music is what you want to hear about..: The Choirs gave concerts twice a year, Christmas and Spring Festival time in May. The girls enjoyed dressing up in long evening gowns. The Bands had the same kind of events also. Sometimes we would combine both groups. We had our Festival and The Board joined with us also. The Board had Solo, Ensembles and Choir Festivals also. Twice a year good students would go to Orchestra Hall for concerts. Then a quartet from the Symphony Orchestra would come out and demonstrate, and play their instruments for the students. Soon my easy time ended. My good music chairperson was promoted. The principal gave me her job. I kept up the work and I did not miss a step. Let’s talk about the General Music class. These classes are where most of you fit in. We got a lot of new books but, the students could not read them, even though the books were 7th and 8th grade books. We were instructed to read to the students. But how can you read to them unless they know the words you are talking about? So this is what I did. I read some of the phrases, and interpreted them and put them on the board. They were to write them down on clean paper and put them in a music folder, making sure that it was legible and clean. I did this for 3 days then I would go over the music folder on the 4th day and give them the answers for the test on Friday. On Friday they were allowed to study for five minutes, then I would give them the test. Some of them did very well, others did not do very well because they said they had lost their notes, or the dog ate their music folder or some other silly thing. Yet and still, they wanted a good grade. Some of the parents were just as bad saying, “Why didn’t my child get a good grade?” So, the first thing I would say was “Show me your child’s music folder.” If they had one I would ask, “Did you help him with his homework?” If the parents said they did not understand it, I said, “Why didn’t you come down and see me?” Some would say,“I work. I don’t have time to go to school.” But what’s more important than your child when you are working for him? I could go on and on about studying music in the schools. Music in the church is the same way. We need a qualified musician in charge. The music is the center of the service. We have it at the beginning, the middle, and the end. We have it all over the place. So we must have good music, otherwise you will leave the service with a sour taste in your mouth.
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