My First Choir Teacher- An epic example of what is really important

I was in 5th grade.

My sister, who was 6 years older than I was came home from school one day, and she said to me, "You're auditioning tomorrow for Amahl and the Night Visitors.  Mrs. Pierce says we need a boy to play Amahl.  Come in here for a quick voice lesson."  

She was bossy.

But I worshipped at her altar, and I said, OK.

Even though I hadn't sung very much at all at that point.  ...And certainly not a lead role in a high school production.  

I went in the next day to audition.  

I was so nervous.  

Ms. Pierce handled me with great care, and I felt so comfortable with her.  

I was double cast with a very good childhood friend named Tony.

So, it all felt very good to the young version of myself, and I moved forward.

Getting this part and moving toward production was such an epic experience... life-changing really.  

I was a 5th grader.  

I loved going to rehearsals and communing with my sister's peers.  I gained so much self-esteem from that experience, and it was a testament to how good Mrs. Pierce was at her job of being a choir teacher.

Her standards were so incredibly high.  I felt it even then.  I mean...we were singing Menotti for goodness sake.  

It's not easy.  

I had no concept of the difficulty. 

I just did what she asked me to do.  When I would miss a chromatic, she would help me hear it...so compassionately.  I never felt any negative energy from her in any way.  ...Just encouragement.

We ended up doing the show again the following year, and I was so happy to get to do it again. 

That really says it all...I wouldn't have wanted to do it in 6th grade if it had been in any way a negative experience in 5th grade.  All I felt was happiness for the opportunity and excitement to get started.

Ms. Pierce's husband got a job in another town, and she resigned in 1976.  It was my sister's senior year.  

5 years after she arrived, she was gone.

I never got the high school experience under her direction.

Fast forward to this past weekend...The weekend of March 1-3, 2024.

That's my sister.

She poured her heart into creating an event to honor Mrs. Pierce who entered my sister's life 50 years ago.  

She did it because this teacher saw her and supported her through all of the personal challenges my sister faced during her high school years...and there were many.

My sister and about 10 of her peers worked together for months putting together this event.

This was the group of singers who chose to be a part of it.

The organizers gave us tracks for the three songs so we could learn them.  One of the committee members arranged a special tribute song just for this event that included snippets of songs the choir had sung under Mrs. Pierce's leadership.

Our old high school had closed down because they built a new one down the street.  

The organizers contacted the school district and asked if they could open it for a day.

They did.

And if you teach public school, you know that is no small feat.

This was the photo I snapped as I walked up to the building to enter for the first time since I graduated in 1982.

And this is Mrs. Pierce.

81 years old.  

See that bin on the right?  

She brought things to US.  

What?!  We were honoring YOU.

She handed out framed posters to students who'd done special events.

She played the piano for us and sang for us.  It was so special.  

Three of her former students volunteered to conduct the three songs we sang and they rehearsed us all day.  Some of the people in the choir hadn't sung in a choir in 50 years.  Some had flown from as far away as Missouri to Durham, NC to be a part of honoring Mrs. Pierce.

The plan was to minimize the hardship on Mrs. Pierce.

She was to conduct us in singing the Northern High School Alma Mater.

My sister rehearsed us on it that day to make sure we had the rhythms and pitches, but she reminded us that we wouldn't get to work with Mrs. Pierce until we were in front of the audience on the stage.

This was that moment when she conducted us for the first time in front of the audience.

You know how when you sing with a group, and you are fully aware that everyone's heartbeat in the choir is exactly the same?  That you are totally in sync as a group?

That's what it felt like...on an Alma Mater that we had never rehearsed with her.

It says so much about who she is and the impact she had on each of us...That we wanted so much to sing for her...still...50 years later...and that she could wave her arms and we would respond with as much intent as possible.

I had goosebumps singing an Alma Mater.

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So, I asked myself why.

Why did she land at this moment?

Why did we land at this moment?

With that many singers who came from all over...with an audience of people who were there to see it...in our original space...with this woman, who, in five years, left such an indelible mark on us and on that community?

I've thought a lot about it, and here is what I've come up with.

She had incredibly high standards.  She pushed her choirs.

When they didn't meet the standard, she would say "Godzilla"...trying not to curse, I suppose...and then she'd push some more.

She poured herself into the musicals.

She took the students from Northern Durham to New York City, and they will never forget it.

She took her students to sing at the North Carolina Music Educator's Conference...one of her proudest accomplishments that she talked about this past weekend...She showed us the framed certificate of it that she's kept and she talked about it with joy.  That experience made her so happy when it happened.

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But a lot of choir directors do those things and never get honored by their students 50 years after doing it.

And as I watched her. listened to her and sang for her, it all became clear.

  It never felt toxic when Betty Jo was in charge.  As a student of hers, you knew that, first, the space was safe and professional.

It was about the music, the community and the children who landed in front of her who were just that...children.

It was never about getting another Superior rating or winning another trophy.  

Although, she had plenty of all of those things.

One night, after a musical, the cast and Mrs. Pierce went to a pizza place to celebrate.  It was raining that night.  She told the students..."It's wet out there.  Please be careful when you are going home."

Mike Mooney, one of her students, raised his hand and said, "Mrs. Pierce, my tires are kind of bald."  

She reiterated...please be careful.

That night, he slid off the road and died.

She said that moment was one of her darkest.  

They sang parts of the Faure Requiem at his funeral in the auditorium of Northern High School...where we performed last weekend, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

She always worked to give the students an amazing musical experience all while remembering that they are children and that they need support, guidance, respect, and love and never crossing those lines.

As a 5th grader, I felt safe with her.

She always remembered what was most important...the safety and well-being of the children...all while pushing them to their limits musically...

Thank you Betty Jo.

And thank you to my sister and to all of the people who organized this incredible tribute to an amazing educator who should be a role model for us all.