Suzuki in the Schools Teacher Training Program Up and Running

SAA-sanctioned Suzuki in the Schools Teacher Training is available again this summer.

Suzuki in the Schools has a long history of development. From the earliest days of Suzuki in the United States there have been programs across the nation which incorporated the philosophical principles and practical application of the method. A list of the names of teachers who pioneered this effort includes some of our most revered and experienced Suzuki personalities. The music of Book 1 was adapted by Paul Zhatilla for heterogeneous (mixed instruments) string class and was published by Summy-Birchard Inc. in 1972. Unfortunately, the volume titled “Suzuki in the String Class, An Adaptation of the Teachings of Shinichi Suzuki” went out of print long ago.

Suzuki in the Schools in recent times has been a priority of the SAA. A Suzuki in the Schools committee was established several years ago. A comprehensive Suzuki in the Schools curriculum has been developed and procedures for the establishment of Teacher Training Courses and Suzuki in the Schools Teacher Trainers have been adopted.

Two string educators have completed the Suzuki in the Schools Teacher Trainer requirements and the course for Suzuki in the Schools teaching training is “Up and Running.” Dr. Laurie Scott has a long-term program at the University of Texas at Austin and William Dick has taught a short-term course at the Flagstaff and Santa Fe Institutes. They both will teach a short-term course again at the Sante Fe Institute this summer. Any string teacher who has completed and registered SAA Book 1 Suzuki training on their instrument is eligible to take this course.

The course curriculum includes a wide variety of crucial teaching strategies and sequences for teaching Suzuki in school situations. Philosophical concepts as well as teaching specifics will be covered.

The Suzuki in the school teacher training course at the Santa Fe Suzuki Institute met last summer with eight teacher trainees. The class met with Dr. Dick for lecture classes and also assisted him with a student class of violinists. Each trainee was assigned a student and was responsible for teaching the exercises and music to that player.

The teaching situations of the teachers taking this course reflect many types of Suzuki instruction which are occurring across the country. While the ages or situations of their students may vary, the opportunity for excellent Suzuki instruction is obvious. As you read the profiles of the trainees in the Santa Fe class you may recognize your current situation or you might be inspired to think in new directions for your own situation.

Mark Clark teaches at Summit Middle School in Frisco, Colorado. He teaches 6th through 8th grade students in heterogeneous string classes.

Carol Whiting teaches in Houston, Texas for the Spring Branch School District. Her classes range from elementary school violin classes to mixed orchestra classes.

Terra Whitehead is a string orchestra teacher in the Rio Rancho public school system in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. She teaches heterogeneous classes at Mountain View Middle School in addition to two 5th grade after school orchestras.

Wendy Clymer lives and teaches in San Francisco and teaches private lessons at the Crowder Center for Music in Berkeley and is doing her student teaching at a San Francisco Middle School.

Kiersten Hollar has a private studio in Anchorage, Alaska and teaches an adult string class at Hiland Women’s Correctional Facility. She has taught orchestra classes for grades 5 through 12 in the Texas public school as well as string method courses at Mary Hardin Baylor College in Belton, Texas.

Sarah Reinke maintains a private cello studio in Dallas, Texas and teaches 2nd through 5th grade orchestra classes at Houston and Rosa Parks/Millbrook Elementary Schools in Lancaster, Texas.

Rozanne Fuller teaches orchestra, chorus, and general music classes for 6th through 8th grade students at Broad Rock Middle School in South Kingston, Rhode Island.

Kristin Snyder teaches at Yorktown High School and Abington Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia.

The Suzuki in the Schools course is up and running and I encourage you to check out the institute listings in Vol. 36#2 of the ASJ or on this website for courses near you.