The Husky Huddle
This is the 'Husky Huddle,' the podcast that brings you closer to the heart of Olean City School education. Whether you're a parent, student, teacher, or a proud member of our community, this podcast is dedicated to providing insightful conversations, expert advice, and a closer look at what makes our district truly exceptional.
The Husky Huddle
Orchestrating Success: OCSD Teacher Susan Boyle's Harmonious Impact on Music Education and Community Unity
When Susan Boyle decided to pick up the baton as a high school orchestra teacher, little did she know her story would strike a chord with so many. Our latest episode strings together the melody of her journey from a Kansas native to a beacon of musical hope in the Olean City School District. Immerse yourself in Susan's narrative, where the harmony of small group sessions and the crescendo of large ensemble rehearsals craft a symphony of educational excellence. Feel the pulse of anticipation as we anticipate the grand performance of Susan's students on June 5th, where the high school auditorium will resonate with their refined talent and collective passion for music.
Striking a different note, we also take a moment to applaud the rhythm of community support that amplifies the impact of music education in our local schools. With the baton in hand, we conduct a tribute to the symbiotic masterpiece composed of generous hearts and nurtured talent. Special applause is reserved for Susan Boyle, whose dedication orchestrates a difference in the Olean schools. Her contributions sing volumes, fostering a chorus of support for our future maestros. Tune in to witness how the power of music can transform not just a classroom but an entire community.
Well, thank you so much for joining me on the next Husky Huddle podcast. I am so happy to be joined by Susan Boyle, a teacher here in Old Hanson School District, and I'm so happy to welcome you. Hi, hi, thank you for joining me. So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, and then we'll?
Speaker 2:just talk. Well, my name is Susan Boyle. My students know me as Mix Boyle and I teach high school orchestra, but every once in a while I'm down at the middle school giving fourth graders some string lessons Awesome. And yeah, we also do some rehearsals during school, so we get both small group lessons and a nice big ensemble rehearsal too.
Speaker 1:Awesome, my mom was a music teacher. Oh, oh yeah, yes, she was an orchestra. She was orchestra Nice. Seven instruments.
Speaker 2:Whoa, that's a lot, yeah, More than I play.
Speaker 1:I don't play one very well, but I could just say that I did go through some piano lessons, and not to keep her happy. So, yeah, yeah. So what brings you in the Husky Huddle?
Speaker 2:today. Oh well, I was invited by you, which is so, so nice of you, and I figured you know I'm still kind of new to the district. This is actually my first year teaching. So not just being new to Oliam, but being new to teaching, it's awesome.
Speaker 1:And why did you enter teaching?
Speaker 2:Oh goodness. Well, I had a lot of really, really wonderful orchestra teachers growing up and they really inspired me to be an orchestra teacher. It was also just the classroom that I had the most fun in and I really enjoyed myself, and I saw myself in years down the line being in the same place that my orchestrators were in, and I'm very happy to say that I'm there now. It's awesome. I'm accomplishing my dreams. It's fantastic. Yeah, and are you from Oliam, not originally? No, I actually grew up in Kansas. Wow, yeah, wow. So what brought you here? It was actually school. I really wanted to go to the Korean School of Music for its SUNY Potsdam. They have a really awesome music education program and, along with a couple of other reasons but that was the biggest one was that I really wanted to go to school there.
Speaker 1:Okay, and what's the biggest difference between Kansas and Oliam?
Speaker 2:Well, within the schools, at least in Kansas, we didn't have our small group lessons. We only had orchestra rehearsals. So every class that you were in you were with all of the other different instruments. But here in it's not even just in Oliam most New York schools they have both a rehearsal and a small group lesson. So I really think that's a big benefit that New York has of being able to work as a big team with everybody and getting to make music on a big scale, like in our ensemble rehearsals. But then we also get to dive into the nitty-gritty details in our small group lessons.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And what is your favorite thing so far? You're what. What is your favorite thing?
Speaker 2:I honestly think it really is just making music with students and that moment where they really get a passage correct and they're so happy and ecstatic about it. They love to compare music to sports and it's that same feeling that you get when you shoot a basket into the or you shoot a ball into the basket, or when you score a touchdown. It's that same joyous feeling that erupts in your body.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, that's awesome. Do you teach your students how to read music or do they come already?
Speaker 2:Some of them do. I mean you can start playing a musical instrument in high school. You don't have to have the prior experience, so you can join orchestra even in your senior year if you want to. It does have its challenges, obviously, but it's definitely doable and the majority of kids do come in learning or having learned music reading already, because we start that pretty early with fourth graders, even have them reading music right away. But we do every once in a while, and I have even taught my orchestra a couple of songs orally by the year, so I play a passage and they're able to play it back without having a paper in front of them telling them what to do.
Speaker 1:That's very talented. That takes a lot to be able to pick that up. It is a hard scale. I can't translate it through an instrument. Yeah, Okay. And your students? What is their favorite thing you think about orchestra?
Speaker 2:I think it would be the same thing as mine just making music and getting to that performance ready level of starting completely from scratch. And you have this piece of paper in front of you and we listen to an audio recording of an ensemble performing it and we say, all right, we got to get there some way, somehow, let's dive into it. And it's a long process, but we have multiple months to work on it, so we give them plenty of time to learn and right now my orchestra is working on four different pieces. Where are they?
Speaker 1:going to perform.
Speaker 2:That's going to be actually in our high school auditorium. Our concert is June 5th, on Wednesday at 6.30. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:Were you part of the all county that just went on.
Speaker 2:I was not, because unfortunately in our county Olean is one of the only schools that has an orchestra program and because the surrounding schools don't have orchestra programs, it's not enough to participate in our all county but we do have our vocal students and our band students performing in that we had a lot of Olean students in that all county and all of them did such a wonderful job.
Speaker 1:All right, so June 5th, that's when the orchestra is going to show all this hard work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, along with our band and choruses. Oh, that's wonderful.
Speaker 1:Okay, definitely have to make sure I get that on my account. Oh, yes, so I can get it as well that would be awesome. I'm so excited. So what are some things that people can look forward to at this June 5th one day?
Speaker 2:Well, I can tell you that my orchestra is planning on performing some movie music. So we have a piece from the Hunger Games, we have another piece from Tangled, which is a Disney movie. I don't want to give too much more away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm going to be there. That's awesome, and it'll be in the Olean High School Auditorium Okay, awesome. So what do you think you should share with your students and the Olean community to help cultivate a love of music like you have?
Speaker 2:Well, one of the things that I wanted to do was actually start a Irish fiddle club. When I was in college I took an Irish fiddle class and we got to learn a whole bunch of different Irish tunes which traditionally you learn orally by the ear. So I kind of have given my students a bit of a taste of that Fantastic, and for them it wouldn't just be Irish fiddle players, but we would also invite all of our band students, because there's Irish tin whistle, which is kind of like a recorder, so not as high-pitched, and then there's also an Irish drum for our percussion players if they're interested in joining. And then there's, of course, a bunch of Irish tunes that have words and lyrics, if any of our chorus students wanted to join. And that's a club that I would really like to get together because it brings in all of our music students.
Speaker 2:It's not just orchestra, just band or just chorus, but everybody can get involved from the music department. And that's what I really loved the most about music making is when I got to play in all of these different ensembles of just a couple of different string players, or in a symphony orchestra where you have band and orchestra, or even the big trios, of having all three together in those really massive symphony works and we don't necessarily have the time to put that together right now for our concerts, but having an extra opportunity for them to experience something like that would be amazing to bring to Oliam. That sounds like a great idea.
Speaker 2:And have you had a lot of interest so far in that I have, I'm going to be putting in for the beginning and for the reminder of the train, the club. Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna be putting in for next year so that we can get it started.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to see that cross my desk so we can get up and ready. And this year were you able to do your first musical.
Speaker 2:I did play in the musical. I played violin and we actually had some of our other students participate in the pit and that music was very, very challenging. Yeah, so I really have to hand it to our student players on that, because that music is a lot more challenging than what we do in our schools and they handle that very, very well. And then, of course, all of our performers on stage that ranged from all the way down to our fourth graders to our seniors up at the high school and got everybody involved, which is something I haven't really seen before. In all honesty, it's the great thing about Olean. We're so, so close to our middle school that we can do these really big collaborations across a whole bunch of grade levels and doing one big project.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they had great reviews. Oh yes, everybody I talked to was so pleased with this year, so that was fantastic as well. Well, is there anything else that you want to make sure that we share, to show the excitement and the awesomeness that's just coming from our music department here at Olean?
Speaker 2:Well, we're very, very excited to be ending the school year with our concert, but going into next year we're hoping to add on some performances with the Irish Fiddle Club and then hopefully, with our extra jazz ensembles we can get extra performances there and really getting out into the community, that's the big thing I'd like to do. I'd really like to schedule some events, maybe at Lincoln Park or, if we could, if we could get into one of the local Irish pubs and do a little Irish fiddle session with them. But really getting out into the community and not necessarily having the community come to the school, but the opposite and getting a reach out with them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And the great thing about Olean is its community name.
Speaker 2:Oh, yes that everybody is so supportive of the schools and our students and what we're doing, and it's so tight in it, everybody knows what's going on.
Speaker 1:They do, they do. But the good thing is you can. It's kind of like a paying back of your music. Yes, you're able to give back, exactly, and our students are so good and generous that I think that would be real well received. Oh, yes, I agree, okay.
Speaker 1:Well, this has been amazing. I appreciate you coming up. Thanks for inviting me Doing this amazing interview and everybody, please keep an eye out for our wonderful Tisha Suze Susan Boyle, who is doing amazing things with music in all the Ant City schools. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.