Group of music teachers pursues national certification
Group of music teachers pursues national certification
Eight Moses Lake women more than professional support group, but friends
MOSES LAKE — The common thread which runs through each member of the Moses Lake chapter of the Washington State Music Teachers Association is their individual love of music and the students they teach.
They do not just consider themselves to be a professional support group, but close friends.
"It seems everything we do has to do with music," said member Harriet West.
From putting on student music recitals, playing at church services and weddings, to traveling around the nation to music conferences, six of the eight-member group are preparing for a new and challenging adventure in their professional careers as music teachers.
From now until this summer, members West, Jennifer Bonato, Preta Laughlin, Mary Loeffelbein, Gracie Payne and Doreen Slaugh will study to receive their Nationally Certified Teacher of Music certification.
Member Marina Aur has already received her national certification and Mary Merrell is not pursuing certification at this time.
Knowledge of music theory, history and pedagogy are just a few of the topics the six women are required to know for the test, which is a combination of written essays, question and answer and performance-based testing.
What is unusual about the group pursuing their national certification is that they have decided to study together for the test.
That is a rarity for members of WSMTA chapters to do, West said.
The thought of the upcoming test is overwhelming for Slaugh, who has taught piano for 35 years.
"I've been saying to myself 'why do I want to put myself through all this stress,' but it's growth and accomplishment," Slaugh said.
Bonato is one of the newer members who joined the WSMTA Moses Lake chapter just over a year ago and has been teaching piano for three years.
She is not sure she wants to go to college, but considers the national certification to be the equivalent of a master's or doctorate degree.
Encouraging students to pursue their musical interests and getting the word out to other instructors about the WSMTA Moses Lake chapter are outcomes members like Bonato, West and Slaugh hope to see as a result of earning their certifications.
"We all feel that we are excellent teachers and we're always willing to grow because that's going to benefit our students," West said.
Their students are not just pupils, but like close family to these women.
"You see them when they're happy, when they're sad," Slaugh said.
Prom nights and high school graduations have become regular social activities for Slaugh, who goes to show support for her students.
Slaugh has one student whom she began instructing when the student was in second grade and is now graduating from high school this spring.
Each Christmas, West brings her Baldwin piano from home, one of six pianos she has in her living room, to the Hallmark store in Moses Lake to play Christmas songs.
"It's not like an eight to five job at all," West said of being a music instructor.
The WSMTA Moses Lake chapter first formed in the 70s.
Past chapter members such as the late Lois Burress, who passed away in 2005, initially spoke to West about joining more than 25 years ago.
"Lois was a flowery red head," West recalled. "I figured if she said I needed to do it I had to do it."
At that time the chapter had no more than five members. Today there are eight, the most West believes the chapter has ever had.
"We love each other and uplift each other," West said.
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