Rev. Thomas Prosser and Westminster Highlands

I learned today of the passing of Reverend Thomas Prosser of Emlenton PA.  Throughout my childhood, Reverend Prosser was the Director of Westminster Highland's Presbyterian Church Camp in Emlenton. Westminster Highlands holds a very important place in my life in terms of my development in many ways. I had so many magnificent experiences there throughout my childhood and Rev. Prosser is part of nearly all of them. He was a fixture at the camp every time I went there and certainly was, for me, a trusted adult and role model as I grew into my adult self and belief system.

To say that I spent a lot of time at Westminster Highlands over the years is not an exaggeration. My family would take our travel trailer to camp in the family camping area every Memorial Day and Labor Day along with five or six other families from my parents' Bible study at Graystone Church in Indiana PA. I attended a standard summer church camp there every summer. (I think it was called Camp Calvin, in good Presbyterian form!)  In the early 1980's, Westminster Highlands initiated a MAD camp standing for Music Art and Drama. Of course, I was drawn to this camp and attended it for two or three summers. And, in addition to all of this, my youth group from Graystone Church would go to Westminster Highlands for a week, early in the summer, to do odd repair jobs around the facilities in preparation for the upcoming summer season. So, in any given summer, I could have ended up spending between 1 and 4 weeks at Westminster Highlands. I loved everything about going to camp there. 

First, on our Memorial and Labor Day weekend trips, it was always so social. There were typically five or six families all staying in our travel trailers. The weekends would be filled with campfires, softball games, swimming in the freezing cold water of the pool,  Hoopie rides (an old dune buggy that was a fixture at camp), and hikes on the huge boulders and swimming in the creek. The boulders on the camp property are absolutely amazing. They are the size of large buildings and have multiple hiking and climbing opportunities all over the place. They can definitely be dangerous, but as a adventurous kid, they presented endless possibilities for climbing and excitement. I just remember those family weekends as being full of laughter and happiness. These were good family friends with lots of kids around. My friends Norm Murdock and Shawn Taylor were a big part of those weekends for me.  We had grown up together in church and school.  These weekends of hiking, swimming, campfires, and goofing off just deepened our friendships even more. There were other families, too, in addition to the Murdock's and Taylor's, including the Gibson's, Stahlman's, and others.  It was so much fun getting to know older and younger brothers and sisters of my friends and just being part of a amazing communal experience. I remember it would drive my mother crazy that I loved to eat with other families and try their food. Mom liked for us all to stay together at mealtime. I wanted to see how other folks lived. I just found the whole experience to be so exciting.

The traditional camp experience was different. My parents would make the three-hour trek from Indiana, PA to Emlenton, drop me off ,and I would meet a whole group of new kids that I had never met before; just like every other kid who ever went to church camp. There was something about the excitement of meeting new people that really drove me. We would get placed in a canvas topped Adirondack cabin and meet our new roommates for the week. Usually there were one or two guys in the cabin that were cool and fun. Usually there were a couple that got on everyone else's nerves. Figuring out how to navigate this early in the week was always a challenge. But, I could always count on plenty of hi-jinx in the cabin, laughter after lights out, and opportunities for making friends and having amazing experiences throughout the week. The week always included Bible study of some sort. I am sure that many of the foundations of my faith became strengthened at these camps. Mealtime was always special. There was a main cabin with long tables. I can remember Rev. Prosser coming in to gently give directions on how to get our food and how to clean up afterwards. He was always part of the camp experience.

MAD Camp was particularly special for me. As an arts oriented kid, this seemed like a perfect fit. I could go to a church camp, focus on my music, and meet other kids from around the region that had similar interests. It became apparent to me very quickly that this was "my space." I could exercise my young leadership and team building skills in this environment and have a great time doing it. The MAD Camp week usually consisted of some type of preparation for a large performance at the end of the week. I recall one year that we made a musical out of the book,  The Singer by Calvin Miller. I played the lead role and wrote a ton of original music for that performance. It was definitely one of my first opportunities to branch out from my classical music roots and exercise my creative muscles. It was so much fun and life-shaping for sure. 

At some point in the late 1970's, my church youth group began heading to Westminster Highlands during an early week in the summer for work camp. This was a completely different experience. We went with kids that we knew and would spend the week fixing bridges, clearing trails, and doing odd jobs around the camp. But, in addition, we were developing relationships and galvanizing our friendships. We were talking about our faith and deepening our relationship with God. This too was amazingly life-shaping. Reverend Prosser, incidentally, was always around. He would give us our instructions for the day at breakfast. He would always stop by the work site to see how things were going. And, occasionally, when we broke the rules or didn't follow through on expectations, he would set us down and explain the importance of our work, probably get us feeling quite guilty for our transgressions, and move on in a very gentle way. Lessons learned. Some of my greatest memories of Westminster Highlands are from work camp. I remember singing Journey's "Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'" at the top of our lungs, swimming in the creek with my friends, hiking on the huge boulders, and even some pretty fun games of "Truth or Dare" after hours. I couldn't begin to name all the folks that were at these work camps in this post, but you know who you are. These are the friendships that I think about and cherish to this day.

So, today Rev. Thomas Prosser and his family are on my mind. He was a great man and caretaker of an absolutely beautiful natural place in Northwestern Pennsylvania. He made it special for all of us. Every kid who went to camp at Westminster Highlands came away with a greater sense of what it truly is to be a person of faith. Reverend Prosser modeled and spoke of kindness, work ethic, faithfulness, and leadership for each of us everyday.  He will certainly be missed. I will carry so many great memories of him and Westminster Highlands in my heart for the rest of my life.

Pax.

Scott

Let's Take a Breath/Commencement 2020

"We don’t have to have all the answers for school openings in the Fall right now!!! It’s healthy to take a breath, take in what was just accomplished, and regroup.  Let the next few weeks unfold." ~Dr David Mouser https://www.davidmouser.com/ via Twitter, 5/21/20

I ran across this tweet yesterday while mindlessly scrolling through Twitter. I gave it a quick look, and quickly hit retweet with the reply, "Could not agree more."

I am not a big retweet guy. But, this one resonates with me. Today would have been commencement exercises for the NCSSM graduating class of 2020.  Typically this Saturday in May is one of the most exciting days of the year for NCSSM students. For the last 19 years, I have spent this day on the beautiful lawn of NCSSM leading our rising senior musicians as they set the stage for their friends and colleagues to move on to the next step of their lives. Today is a beautiful sunny 80° day. It would have been perfect for the NCSSM Commencement. I would have met several colleagues for an early breakfast at the Cracker Barrel.  We would have listened to speeches encouraging students to go seek their dreams, played Pomp and Circumstance to set the stage, witnessed that sea of navy blue caps and gowns, and shared lots of hugs and tears. Then, I would have headed home, loaded up the car, and traveled to Pennsylvania for an annual reunion with four of my very best friends from high school. This has been the rhythm of Memorial Day weekend for my family for many years. I look forward to commencement and we all look forward to the "Annual Gathering of the Five Families. This weekend is truly the official start of summer for my family.

But obviously today was different. My mind has wandered to my graduating senior students many times today. I wonder how they are spending the day. Are they celebrating? Or, is it just another day of relative isolation? Did they put on their cap and gown? Did they call a friend? Or, perhaps did they go to a lake and have a picnic? I really do wonder. I have also thought a good deal about my rising seniors who will be my musical leaders next year. It really stinks that we didn't get a chance to play Pomp and Circumstance together. This is always a day of great bonding and preparation for transition into the next school year for my underclassman musicians. This year would have been particularly meaningful, because it would have been my last time to co-direct the Commencement Orchestra with my dear friend Phillip Riggs and to share the stage with my other dear friend, David Stuntz directing the Chorale in the National Anthem. Both of these colleagues are retiring this spring and next year's commencement ceremony will feel quite different. I can't wait to welcome my new colleagues into this wonderful community. But, I really wish I would have had this last commencement with my long-time friends and colleagues.

One of the things I love about working in academia is the flow of opening and closing school. It always feels so good to open school in August and to close school when commencement is over. I love the process of walking away for a little while and reorganizing my thoughts and energy before starting the process all over again at the beginning of August. This year, it doesn't feel like we get that transition. Will we be learning face-to-face in the fall? Or, will we be remote learning again? Or, will there be some sort of hybrid plan where we have students in the room and online? If we are not face-to-face, what does that mean for my syllabus? What does it mean for concerts? Will my enrollment go down? There are so many questions and, truthfully, not many answers right now.  And yet, this is what is on the minds of all teachers and administrators across the United States. I have noticed that everyone is starting to make plans. There are firm plans and contingency plans. There is speculation and clearly some misinformation. It is very hard to know what will actually happen at this point.

I would argue we all need a break. This spring has been taxing. I have been pushed to the brink pedagogically, physically, and emotionally.  We all had to rethink our course content and methodology of delivery as we went into remote learning. I am pleased to say that I feel pretty successful in this endeavor.  The feedback I received from students and parents following the spring term was overwhelmingly positive. It was hard to hit the mark, but I believe this worked for me. I cannot report the same about my physical well-being following the spring. I have tried to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps every day and have been committed to my standing desk while teaching. That said, I have aches and pains I did not have back in February. I have learned to deal with what I call "Zoom-fog" after many 8 to 10 hour Zoom days in the past several weeks. It is not a good feeling. I'm guessing many of you know what I'm talking about. With all of this, I still believe the emotional toll has been the greatest. While I have been generally fine during this period, I have some days when I simply break down and cry. This is not normal for me. My emotional swings are wide and fast. I really just don't think we are built for teaching or learning completely in front of a computer screen. Especially in the Arts, we live for human connection. If you scroll back through this blog, you will find many posts that remind us that relationships are at the core of great music making and great arts education. I still believe this and will fight you if you disagree. ;)

I am pleased to report I'm serving on a national task force for the American String Teachers Association, along with 10 or 12 esteemed colleagues from around the country. We are looking at creating some clear and thoughtful guidelines for our return to school in the fall in the String and Orchestra classroom. We are hoping to divide these guidelines into clear categories with guidelines for a successful re-entry to school. Every one of us doesn't need to invent this wheel. I believe strongly that education associations, local and state governments, and school administrations will help guide us through this process and allow us some latitude to make mistakes when they are in the best interest of student learning and emotional well-being.

But, we all need a break. We all need to simply let our brains rest. Our hearts need to rest. This has been hard. We need to step back, pay some attention to ourselves, our families, our bodies and regroup. I am fortunate that I have a wonderful home with some space that is special to me, where I find peace and rejuvenation. I encourage you to find the same. Put your feet up. Read a book about something other than pedagogy and remote learning. (I just finished Elton John's biography, "Me.") Take an emotional vacation and allow your brain to rest. School is going to start in the fall. You will be able to figure it out. Do I have all the answers right now? Absolutely not. Do I believe strongly that we will get there through the course of the summer? Absolutely, I do.

To the class of 2020, congratulations! You did it. I believe that your class will go down in history as one that learned to be resilient, that learned to pivot when needed, and that put the greater human good over your own personal wants and desires. I will miss each and every one of you. And I encourage you to lift up those around you while giving it your all. You have great things ahead of you.

To my friends in Pennsylvania, I look forward to seeing you guys on Zoom this evening. It won't be the same, but it will make me happy and allow me to reset a bit.

To my friends and colleagues around the United States in string and music education, hang in there. Take a break. You need to make some time to regroup so that you can come back strong in a couple of months.  It is that important.

Peace. 

Scott

A Happy Teaching Story in a Remote Learning World

Today I had a really wonderful teaching moment and I'd love to share it with you. I think I wrote in an earlier blog post that, in lieu of orchestra rehearsals since mid-March, my class has been doing a "deep dive" on the concerti that were programmed for our spring concert. In addition, every member of our Orchestra has been working on a concerto for their personal repertoire. It seemed like a good assignment for everyone since we are not able to do ensemble work as we finish up the school year. I have been so pleased with the way every individual in the orchestra has committed to this work. They have been practicing during our other two orchestra class periods each week and submitting videos for me to review and assess, as well as a personal journal entry for each class. I have really been impressed with my students work, reflection, and commitment to the project.

Last week I received an email from one of my violists asking me to give her some help with vibrato. I jumped at the opportunity to meet with her individually, assess her work to this point, and to give some tips for moving forward. We met today for about 30 minutes in the middle of the afternoon and had a wonderful lesson. I was pleasantly surprised with her progress and commitment to the tools I provide in some of my online videos. I was also pleased that she had done some personal research and found other videos to use in addition to mine. We took some time to talk about the calisthenic nature of vibrato practice and related exercises and etudes. As I said, she is well down the road to developing a nice vibrato and really just needed a little bit of encouragement and feedback. 

After the lesson, we spoke for a minute about the remote learning nature of the past several weeks and she gave me some feedback that really meant a great deal to me.  She told me that the opportunity to work on something for her own personal benefit as part of the orchestra class has really been refreshing to her. I imagine that she has primarily participated in ensemble work as her music and viola education in recent years. As a violist, we all know how that can mean lots of inner harmonies and rarely playing the lead part. She told me that her work on the concerto had been quite enlightning. I gave her some tips a few weeks ago about developing 16th note passages. She has applied those tips and is really seeing the difference in her playing and accuracy. That type of personal advancement, she told me, can be a little hard to see when you're always playing in the ensemble environment. She feels like she has advanced as a player throughout the course of the spring! Of course, she is also going to return to orchestra in the fall with a more fully developed vibrato. She will be a better violist in September than she was in March. This may not have happened if we were in our regular school and orchestra concert cycle and routine. She would have been learning the accompaniment parts to our programmed concerti, but perhaps not developing as a violist in the process. She also told me that the routine of practicing two times per week throughout the spring as part of our class has helped her to develop a habit that she believes will continue throughout the summer. Wow! What a side benefit to the remote learning environment. Of course, there was some accountability to those practice sessions. She had to turn in a video. She had to write a practice journal. So, in some ways we have developed the habit of practice and reflection as a by product this spring.  Anyone who hasn't read my thoughts on habits should head to that blog entry now! In the end, she found a cue, class time. She had some kind of routine, practicing during class time. And, finally there was a reward, her viola playing improved.

I can't tell you how happy this exchange made me. I am constantly trying to find little positives that grow out of our global pandemic. Hopefully we have all seen them from time to time. Some that I can think of off the top of my head include more family time, opportunities to record music, opportunities to write blog posts, and little teaching moments like this that have given me true joy in the midst of some difficult days.  My students have great timing.  This one came at just the right time!

I know that we all have had moments like this as part of our remote teaching environment this spring. Thanks for letting me share mine. I would love to hear about yours.

Peace.

Scott