You would think that after 24 years of teaching at Carthage, I would finally be accustomed to the sight of seeing my former students becoming teachers themselves …. but no, it’s something that still pretty much blows my mind. And it happened again the day before yesterday when I had the pleasure of playing piano for the top choir from Racine’s Prairie School, who came to sing for the Carthage Lakeside Choral Festival. Standing atop the podium, conducting them, was a former voice student of mine named Fletcher Paulsen, who graduated from Carthage this past May before taking the job at Prairie. Fletcher was following in the footsteps of an extraordinary teacher named Pat Badger, who was pretty much a Prairie legend – but Fletcher has hit the ground running and is doing an absolutely wonderful job. And it’s not a surprise at all. From this first audition at Carthage, we all knew that this was a young man with truly exceptional gifts- and he worked very hard over these past four years to make the most of those gifts. And as he observed at Kathy’s school (and pitched in from time to time) and later student taught with Polly at Tremper, it became crystal clear that he was going to be a superb teacher. And sure enough: he is. But even though it’s no surprise whatsoever, it’s still thrilling to see Fletcher given the chance to do what he has wanted to do for such a long time- and doing it so well even as a first-year teacher.
One of the hard things about teaching is that there is this perpetual succession of students in and out of our lives, and sometimes it’s hard to know just what kind of a difference we have made in a given student’s life, or if what we’ve done for them or experienced with them together will matter to them in the chapters to come. You hope that it was meaningful, but most of the time we don’t know just how – or can’t be sure of how that meaning will matter in the future.
Maybe that’s why it’s such a special joy when a student becomes a teacher themselves- because it means that what we shared with that student is given new life in the teaching that they go on to do. And it’s especially fun when they happen to land a job around here, so we’re not left to imagine the good things they’re doing – but can see it for ourselves. That’s why I was so delighted when Fletcher was offered the position at Prairie, and then brought his top choir to Carthage to perform. It was delightful to watch him conduct his choir with such poise, grace and assurance. (To be clear, Fletcher did not study conducting with me. He did sing under me in the Lincoln Chamber Singers and took voice lessons from me, but most of what he learned about choral conducting was taught to him by others. So I really don’t get to take any credit for what he was doing on that podium. But that doesn’t prevent me from taking pleasure in it.) And of course, it seems like just yesterday that Fletcher was a freshman at Carthage, just at the outset of his collegiate journey. Where does the time go?
And of course, Fletcher is just the most recent in a long list of former students of mine who have gone on to be teachers or choir directors. Some, like Kevin Burrow, are doing great work but I haven’t much chance to see it or encounter it first-hand- but am thrilled by all that I hear about them. Others like Derek Galvicius have brought their choirs back to Carthage on a regular basis, which has given me the pleasure of seeing them in action. Other wonderful teachers like Keri (Heckel) Bieri (who heads up a superb choral program at Gilmore Middle School in Racine) take their students to Solo & Ensemble where I can marvel over and over again at all she has accomplished as a teacher.
And then there’s the special case of Paul Marchese, who was a voice student of mine back in the late 1990’s. Paul has done terrific work as a music teacher and choir director ever since, and on several different occasions he has brought me around to work with his students, which has been a tremendous pleasure for me. (It has been especially fun to see Paul in action in choral rehearsals, where I see hints of me at play- although Paul remains his own man, as of course he should be.)
But I have to say that one of the coolest encounters I ever had with Paul-As-Teacher was actually the first time I saw him judging at Solo & Ensemble, 5 or 6 years ago. He judged two of my most gifted high school students at the time- Mike Anderle (left) and Ryan Anderson (right)- and offered some of the most insightful, articulate, meaningful critiques that I have ever heard at contest.
As I stood off to the side and watched those interactions, it was a strange yet wonderful sensation- for here was someone who had been a student of mine once upon a time who was now working with two of my present day students. It was one of those extraordinary Full Circle moments that every teacher lives for, when you can see with your very eyes that your work is living on in someone else. Teaching can be an incredibly stressful and frustrating experience- but thank goodness for the moments like these that make it all worth it.