Music teacher earns certificate after 32 years

Moses Lake woman first of six to complete certification

MOSES LAKE - Doreen Slaugh taught piano for 32 years, but Monday was her first day as a certified teacher.

Slaugh earned her music teaching certificate on Sept. 8.

"I always thought, I need to do that. It just seemed overwhelming," she said.

Early in 2006, Slaugh and five others from the Moses Lake Music Teachers Association decided to study for their certification together at the suggestion of one of the members, the only member from the organization who was certified. Slaugh is the first of the group to finish, but others are close.

"It was very time consuming, and it's been a lot of years since I've been back in school," said Slaugh, who has a teaching degree from Brigham Young University and a minor in music.

For her certification, Slaugh was tested on music history and literature, on teaching, and took a final three and a half hour exam encompassing her years of experience. Because of her minor, she did not need to take tests in theory or performance. She does not know how many hours she spent studying, just that she studied a lot. In her car she played the music of composers while she learned about them, and she rented 2-hour movies from the library to increase her knowledge.

"It really did stimulate my brain and get me thinking, but I've always enjoyed learning new things," she said.

The music history portion of the test was most challenging for her because she never studied the subject in college. Now her students will have the benefit of learning the history of the composers whose music they play, whereas before Slaugh was more laid back about music history.

"They had known a few of the main composers, and that was it," Slaugh said.

She believes being certified can only improve her teaching. In fact, her philosophy is teachers who stop learning also stop being good teachers. She attends workshops regularly and is attending four or five this fall.

Earning her certification will also give her more empathy for students because she was reminded of what learning something new is like, she said.

"I really enjoy teaching music," she said. "I thought about retiring, but I like it."