Julia White, founder and artistic director of the 17-year-old Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir, led 69 choristers, ages 7-13, through demonstrations and songs at The Homestead, site of the Virginia Music Educators Association annual meeting.

Joy Anderson, SVCC assistant director, leads the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir in a solfege demonstration at the Virginia Music Educators Association gathering. Photo by Jill Koeppen

A pear helps children visualize how to open up the backs of their mouths and throats to produce a full, rich sound. The slit tennis ball reminds choristers to open their mouths wide. "Hee-haw" is definitely NOT how you want to behave coming off and on to the risers.

The children enthusiastically demonstrated right and wrong ways to sing and handle themselves on stage, prompted by White and Joy Anderson, assistant director of the choirs. The songs the choristers shared demonstrated how appealing excellent-quality repertoire can be to both children and audiences.

The session included a solfege demonstration in which Anderson led the children in major and minor scales, memorized intervals, sight reading and even finding a specific pitch on their own. Curwen hand signs added a kinesthetic element to the aural skills demonstration.

"Very few music educators have had adequate formal training in conducting children’s choirs," White said, explaining her motivation for taking two charter buses of children across the mountains on a wintry day. "I am thrilled with the opportunity to share with these educators what kind of sound and performance they can expect from the children they teach."

Despite a less than ideal venue – challenging acoustics and a standing-room-only crowd – the Prep and Treble choirs demonstrated that they have learned their SVCC lessons well.

SVCC staff set extremely high musical and behavior standards for the choristers, and the mature professionalism exhibited by even the youngest choristers made them able ambassadors for their community.

Read more about SVCC and hear recordings at www.emu.edu/svcc.

Four 草莓社区 seniors preparing to become teachers have been recognized for exemplifying the necessary traits for an exemplary career in public education.

Named “Teachers of Promise” by the state of Virginia were:

• Katrina J. Martin, Peachtree City, Ga., an elementary education major with PreK-6th grade licensure. She is seeking a teaching position this fall with either Harrisonburg City or Rockingham County school systems.
• Rachel A. Sims, Perkasie, Pa., a mathematics major seeking licensure in grades 6-12 with TESL minor;
• Kendal L. Swartzendruber, Keezletown, Va., a special education major with certification in mental retardation and emotionally disturbed.
• Shannon D. Yoder, Harrisonburg, Va., a history and social science major seeking licensure in grades 6-12.

The students were honored during a two-day institute held mid-March at James Madison University in Harrisonburg.

‘Touching Children’s Lives’

“The ‘Teachers of Promise’ seminar was a meaningful event that encouraged me as I prepare to enter the profession,” said Martin. “The seminar also was a good reminder that the teaching career is about much more than simply teaching academics – it is about touching children’s lives.”

The Teachers of Promise Institute is sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education, the Virginia Milken Educator Network and the James Madison Center. This institute offers a quality professional development opportunity for pre-service teachers from all of the commonwealth’s 37 accrediting institutions.

Participants are selected by their university on a competitive basis and represent the commonwealth’s most promising and gifted pre-service educators.

In an effort to support its strongest teacher candidates, the state provides guidance for the new Teachers of Promise by providing them with mentors who are veteran teachers who have been recognized as “Teachers of the Year” in Virginia.

Teaching: ‘a true profession’

Lori H. Leaman, assistant professor of , attended the institute with the four students.

“The institute felt like an affirmation of EMU