What made you decide to work at EA?
Most of my career was in Washington D.C. for 25 years and then my youngest daughter graduated from that school I was working at. I was music department chair and did all the choir stuff.
When she graduated I wanted a change. I was interested in urban education. I had a student that started three charter schools in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He wanted to start a performing arts department down there so he pitched the idea to me. I went down to New Orleans for two years to work with inner city kids. I started a choir down there. It was a really hard transition going from an independent school system to a charter school system so the second year the testing came back really bad and I lost a bunch of music classes.
I began to long for a position at an independent school. I also missed the East Coast a lot. So then I started looking around the East Coast and then Episcopal opened up. I fell in love with the school. As far as the size, it was a bigger program. The facilities were amazing. I fell in love with the campus. It was love at first sight.
How did you get involved with Dora Khayatt?
Dora Khayatt was something that I inherited. Dora Khayatt has been around here for around 30/40 years or so. It’s an endowed fund. Dora Khayatt was a visual artist but her husband loved music so he made an endowed fund for kids to compete for prizes. We are able to hire outside judges with that budget and have them pick four winners. All four winners come home with a $400 prize. It’s a phenomenal thing to be a part of.
What is your favorite memory from Dora Khayatt/ working at EA?
Working at EA, I have fantastic memories every day because I love making music with students in middle school, upper school, and even lower school. Making music with students is my greatest joy whether it be singing or making live music in guitar class or handbells.
My best memories are some of the trips I’ve taken with the choir. Last year I took a May Term to Nashville. 16 performers came with me and then we sang at different public schools around Philadelphia after we got back in town. A lot of choir directors take their choirs to Europe but I love going to public schools especially elementary and middle schools because the audiences treat you like rockstars. We sang at GW Childs a couple of times and the kids just went crazy and started dancing. My kids bring the audience up and there is interaction with a completely different population.
Did you always want to teach music and be a choir director?
I started out as a concert pianist and went to music school for that. I was an All-American gymnast in high school and got a full scholarship to the University of Oregon. I had always loved the piano and music but my parents weren’t musical so I felt like it wasn’t a legitimate way to make money. When I got into the University of Oregon I was in the gym so much and I thought that if I practiced piano 6 or 7 hours a day I could get really good. So then I applied to music schools and tried to become a concert pianist. I tried jazz and classical music. After I had my first kid I was a freelance musician and then I got a job at a school in D.C. when I was 30. I then fell in love with working with high school students. After about 5 years of teaching in D.C. I absolutely fell in love with teaching music and the power of giving music to all different types of students. My mantra was to get everyone to fall in love with music.
If you could teach any subject besides music, what would it be?
I love all the subjects. I think I could teach anything because I love education so much. I love the sciences, I love the humanities, I love history. I think my favorite would be either biology or history
What are your hobbies outside of school?
I’m a pretty big biker. Almost every week I do cycling classes. I also love hiking. I love being outdoors. I make fires every weekend. Pennsylvania is such a beautiful state so since I’ve been here it’s been really great to hike and cycle around the trails
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned from your time at EA/life?
I think my biggest lesson is to never judge the capabilities of a student. I’ve seen so many kids who’ve struggled in different areas and then when they’re adults they become really successful, happy, and wonderful. My biggest lesson is to not judge everyone because everyone has different challenges and everyone has a lot of worth. Everyone has something to give back to society so you have to be really open minded about the amazing potential everyone has.
What’s one piece of advice you have for EA students?
Be open minded and don’t be afraid to be creative and express yourself. Try to tap that potential that each of us has. Instead of comparing yourself to others, find that true passion inside of you. One reason I went into music after my gymnastics career when everyone thought I was crazy was that I asked myself “what would I do for free?” I thought that would be the perfect job. And sure enough, everything I do aside from grading I would totally do for free. So my advice to young people is to find a passion that you love doing that you would actually do for free and life will be a roller coaster from then on.