|
Message from Mary Ann
 In a film from the 1980’s, Japanese director Akira Kurosawa gives us the story of a Shadow Warrior or impersonator who must try to convince the court that he is the deceased ruler. It is a familiar enough device, with a double who does not know how to act. Here, the Shadow Warrior takes advice from a little child who teaches him the kingdom’s motto: Stand firm. When confronted by demands for leadership in a crisis, he uses this phrase both to fool the doubters but also to offer an excellent plan of action.
These are troubled times in so many ways. Change will be inevitable in the coming days and months, some of it positive, some negative. Watching the wild fluctuations in the stock market is not for the weak in heart, for example. As we remember that Mu Phi Epsilon was established 105 years ago this month, we should consider it one of the anchors or beacons, foundations or ensigns of stability and hope in our lives. And these times are ones in which we must indeed stand firm.
My message to you is to come to meetings, as often as possible. We have made changes in the schedule, trying to accommodate more people. Perhaps we need to do more of that. We have fewer meetings than in the past, another possible point of change. Please let someone know what you are thinking and feeling about these issues. We miss you keenly when you are not with us and understand that there are certainly reasons not to come. But if there are ways that we can make attendance easier, this is the time to make it known.
Many thanks to all of you who do so much in your communities and schools and to those of you who make this chapter run. I love and admire you all.
Mary Ann Taylor
Top
|
Meeting October 14, 2008
Mary Williams hosted the meeting at the Chimneyhill Clubhouse, assisted by co-hostesses Tena Hehn and Ellen Stamelos. Thanks for the wonderful refreshments.
Jenny Smith, chapter delegate, gave a detailed report of the 2008 International Convention. Additional comments were shared by Sandra McMillen.
 For the program, a handbell trio made up of Susan Poelchau, Phyllis Wilson, and Melanie Priest beautifully performed
Spinning Song by Mendelssohn; Prayer from Hansel and Gretel by Humberdinck; and
Fanfare for Handbells by Michael Keller.
Ellen Stamelos shared information about her “Dream Retirement Trip” which included a visit to Bonn, Germany and a visit to the Beethoven Haus. Her presentation featured history and stories about Beethoven’s life. She recommended two valuable internet sites for those wanting more information on Beethoven:
www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de and www.hell-beethoven.de
(especially good for children and students).
Top
|
| Yearbooks
If you did not receive your yearbook (at the last meeting, taken to you by another member near you, or in the mail), let Mary Williams know:
txtravel@flash.net. As always, there are changes and corrections:
Please contact the President or webmaster for the new address for Ruth Reed, who has moved
to Houston.
Frances Stuart, not Tena Hehn, received the Orah Ashley Lamke Award from Mu Phi Epsilon for distinguished alumni in 1986.
Co-hostesses
Sylvia Taylor Lerch passed sign-up sheets for hostess, co-hostess, and performers at the May meeting, but there are still opportunities for you to be a co-hostess. We are not assigning those duties anymore. Please take it upon yourself to choose one month per year to bring some goodies. So if you have not already chosen when to volunteer, let Sadie Rowe and the hostess for the month know who you are. Sandra McMillen volunteered to ask members for co-hostess preference when she collects information for the SERV report next spring.
Treasury
Thanks to those of you getting your dues in to Sharon Kraus. We will send checks to the 2008 Music Therapy Scholarship
recipient ($250) and our fee of $25 for a booth at the TMEA convention. The chapter voted to cover our convention delegate Jenny Smith’s expenses not covered by International reimbursement.
Other Meeting News
A SERV award was presented to Sandra McMillen and Best Newsletter award to Mary Williams; these were received at the 2008 Convention.
Members were encouraged to consider a chapter service project.
Sandra McMillen reminds you to keep track of your SERV hours in the back of your yearbook.
Top |
Collegiate News
Sandra McMillen (our new International Collegiate Advisor) reports:
Jenny Smith and I met with the Mu Chi Chapter for a chapter training session. The Mu Chi members were really excited about being together, celebrated the birthday of one member, and got down to business. Plans for Rush, Service, Ways & Means, and of course Music were on the Agenda.
SMU is extremely restrictive about fund-raising on campus. If alumni members have any fund raising ideas to share with the collegiates please forward to Mu Chi President Jordan Johansen at
jjohansen@smu.edu or Ways & Means Chairman Whitney Dewell at
kdewell@smu.edu. Their fundraising activities will all have to be off campus.
Because the chapter has minimal funds, Mu Chi will need help with food for the rush activity. I may be contacting alumni chapter members and asking for their help - bringing goodies for the rush party (date to be arranged). This would also be a wonderful way for alumni members to interact with the collegiates showing them that Mu Phi Epsilon is for a lifetime.
The Mu Chi Vice President will be talking to Freshmen and Sophomore Theory classes about Mu Phi Epsilon. Good things are happening with MX at SMU!
Top
|
Next Meeting
 Frances Stuart Concert and November meeting
We will be meeting on Sunday, November 9th at 2 pm at the downtown library (1515 Young St, Dallas) for our next meeting. That will be followed by the special Sunday Concert Series program at 3 pm honoring Frances Stuart. Performing will be former students of Frances: Andy Kueny, Stephannie Johnson, Linda McClaran Mendro, Ann Candamio Peak, Susan Dixon Poelchau, Howard Etheridge, Gaylia Green plus Pat Suitt.
See their program.
Frances’ son, John Stuart, and his daughter are planning to attend this tribute concert. A reception of punch and cookies will follow and if you can bring some cookies, Susan will bless you. Please make a point to come and support this effort to celebrate our longtime member, Frances Stuart. As you know, she was honored by Mu Phi Epsilon with the President’s Award for 80 years of teaching and contribution to the musical world and taught until just before she died at nearly 96.
Co-hostesses for this meeting are Karen Glosserman, Jenny Smith, Mary Williams, Sharon Kraus – and whoever can bring more cookies!
We will not be meeting again until February. Add to your list of must-attend meetings for spring: Guest speaker from the Dallas Opera - "Dallas Opera Preview" in March.
Your yearbook and website have the most recent listings of the meetings (not the September newsletter – changes since then).
Top
|
|
 Sunday Concert Series
Susan Poelchau announced that the Series at the library has gotten off to a lively start with some well-attended programs! We have heard beautifully sung Celtic melodies, contemporary Norwegian compositions for piano and Schubert's
Trout Quintet among others! On October 26 Donny Pinson, alto and tenor trombone with Natasha Sukhina, piano and Noel Wallace, bass trombone filled in for a cancellation. The piano has been adjusted and tuned, and is sounding very good.
We have three fine concerts left this fall and hope for continued good results. We are very excited about our special program on November 9 in which former students of Frances Stuart will play in her honor, and hope to see all of you there at 2 PM to celebrate Founders Day, enjoy a fine program and greet our special guests! Frances' son and granddaughter will be there along with other friends and family, in addition to our members and the regular Library audience.
Our three remaining concerts are:
- November 2: Carlo Pezzimenti and Brian Rowe, classical guitar
- November 9: Piano Program in honor of Frances Stuart
- November 16: Laura Anne Ayres, soprano and Yulia Levin, piano
The series will begin again in February. See the
complete schedule under Sunday Concerts.
Top
|
Member News
Katy Freiberger will be remaining in Durango, CO due to her husband’s illness.
An e-mail from Martha Whitmore from the Denton Alumn i chapter was shared regarding Frank
McKinley.
Tena Hehn has recovered from her surgery, is teaching and back at meetings. Yeah Tena!
Cherie Bell had articles published in the Dallas Morning News in September and October and is on the panel of Our Teacher Voices. She was introduced this way:
 Cherie Bell, Choir director,
A. W. Spence Middle Learning Center and TAG Academy, Dallas
Reason for teaching: "I teach probably because my mother was a teacher. I spent my childhood in her classroom after school, writing on the chalkboard, spinning in her chair, seeing her perspective from the teacher's desk."
Rewards: "I teach from the heart because I love sharing knowledge of and passion for music with young people. I enjoy introducing a new generation to the music of Bach and the Beatles, to songs as timeless as "Greensleeves" and "Scarborough Fair."
Wants to write about: Race relations in schools, the public perception that schools fail to educate children.
Here is her first article:
Cherie Bell of Dallas: Five lessons for teachers
Published Sunday, September 7, 2008
Kids growing up in the inner city have taught me a lot about toughness, honesty, flexibility, communication and – believe it or not – love.
Lesson One: Teachers have to develop thick skins.
When I started teaching five years ago, I was surprised to find that the way kids are portrayed in The Simpsons and South Park has a grain of truth. Kids left to their own devices, without authority figures, can be mean, ornery and merciless toward each other. They'll try to manipulate adults and teachers.
Kids raised on the streets put up a tough front. A fifth-grader told me he acts that way at school so no one will mess with him. But when these kids are approached about their behavior one-on-one by a mature, concerned adult, they'll break down and cry. That's the sign of kids who can be salvaged.
Lesson Two: Keep it real.
In those first days of teaching, I wouldn't or couldn't look into the eyes of my students. Mostly African-American, they seemed aged beyond their years, jaded, as if to say: "You can't reach me." I was in culture shock. What did I, someone raised in the suburbs 30 years ago, know about minority kids, broken homes and the cycle of poverty? How could I relate?
As a choir director, I shared my passion. I wanted them to experience the enjoyment I found in all types of music. The act of singing can lift the spirit, and I chose songs about love and life. I used rap tracks to teach rhythm. But when it came to rap music containing sexual language and bleeped lyrics, I wouldn't allow it. Not with my students. I didn't care if they thought I was being an old white lady. Race had nothing to do with it. Mending their spirits did.
Lesson Three: Chill.
Like many teachers, I need to be in control. I've butted heads with many an adolescent in the battle of wills, topping their comebacks with sarcastic quips. This does not work with inner-city kids.
In the give and take that is teaching, I had to learn what I can control and what I can't. I hate class distractions – it's always the same couple of kids – but if I'm going to survive a career in teaching, I must choose my battles and row with the flow.
Lesson 4: Let them talk. They're going to anyway.
Adolescents like to talk ... a lot. I can relate. When I was their age, kids and teachers called me Motor Mouth. Now, from the teacher's perspective, I needed to point out that talking during class leads to missed information. I brought my old junior high yearbooks and read comments about me, such as "the loudest mouth" and "chatter box." A compromise was in order with my students because some constantly talk and don't even realize it. A well-behaved class, one that gets through the lesson successfully, receives time to talk. No one understands better than I do their need to gab about what's really important to young lives.
Lesson Five: All you need is love.
I wanted to reach students whatever their race or social background. After purchasing the latest visual technology and inspirational posters, I realized that wasn't what my students needed. They needed to feel love and a lot of it.
Not one to be touchy-feely, I think students should experience adults who demonstrate each day how much they care through routine and order. This makes students, especially from rough homes and neglected parts of town, feel safe and secure.
A teacher's care with details and presentation, coupled with passion for subject and for life itself, instills a love for learning.
Students will laugh off what I'm saying because they're uncomfortable with feelings they can't express. As a teacher, I've come to accept their love will be unrequited.
If life is for learning, then I am a student of my students.
Cherie Bell of Dallas is the choir director at A.W. Spence Middle Learning Center and TAG Academy in the DISD and is a Teacher Voices volunteer columnist. Her e-mail address is cheriebell69@hotmail.com.
Cherie’s newest article is at http://www.dallasnews.com/
-Click Opinion, then Op Ed and scroll to Oct 23, 2008.
Top
|
|
