Boyertown Senior High School students recently took part in a unique opportunity
Back in March, questions were gathered from Boyertown Senior High School students that would potentially be used in a discussion about education in Cuba.
“What kind of musical opportunities do you have in Cuba?” asked Boyertown Senior High School student Elizabeth Ann Haeckler.
The discussion – “Exchange for a Day with First Lady Michelle Obama” – was facilitated by the First Lady during President Obama’s trip to Cuba prior to Easter. It featured a panel of Cuban high school students, all females.
Haeckler’s question was selected out of the 25-30 questions submitted from Boyertown, according to the district’s Chief Academic Officer Dr. Melissa Woodard.
“A few students, Liz included, had terrific ideas and posed several questions,” said Woodard.
This all began when former BASD elementary teacher Kyle Schutt — a representative from Discovery Education – reached out to Woodard to see if it would be possible to collect questions from students.
From there, Schutt accompanied Woodard to Boyertown Area Senior High.
“Within a few hours, he and I were visiting a few classrooms and asking students to brainstorm for questions,” said Woodard. “Upon visiting the rooms, we explained our mission and asked students to think about the kinds of things they would want to learn about high school students in Cuba.”
Then, to comply with the request for video footage, the team recorded students asking their questions.
“Kyle and I offered a few ideas for topics to generate the conversation but we were really hoping to hear the authentic ideas from the students.” Woodard was “ecstatic” to hear that a question from BASD was chosen.
In regards to how she chose her question, Haeckler said “When the crew was there, they informed the group that the best questions come from things we are interested in. Since I have devoted the majority of my time to Boyertown’s music department, it was only natural that I ask about their musical opportunities.”
She was “quite surprised, but very happy,” to learn that her question was selected. “I had been going through a time crunch during our musical and it made my day to see that something I said was being used outside of just our small town.”
The question was not only asked – it was given a thorough answer by Cuban students on the panel. The answer referenced musical opportunities at cultural centers, and the need to apply to music schools at an early age to pursue as a profession. For Cuban musicians, the piano is to be played as the minor instrument and then the major instrument of study is optional.
“I found every aspect of the answer fascinating,” said Haeckler. “We are blessed to have such a wonderful music department in our school, so it is odd to think that they must utilize outside resources to pursue music unless they want to pursue a life in music.”
It also surprised her to learn that musicians need to start their schooling at such an early age in order to pursue music as a career, noting how some seniors at the high school still aren’t sure if that want to major in music.
There was some common ground, too. Haeckler agrees with the requirement of piano as a minor instrument – stating “Piano is a building block for all of music theory and it makes understanding it much easier.”
Haeckler plans to major in Chemical Engineering at University of Pittsburgh and will be continuing music throughout her continued education. Referencing music as her stress reliever, she says “I play jazz to get my mixed emotions out, then play Christian rock to portray my organized feelings. I live by these words: If I have not moved at least one person in a crowd, then I have failed at my job as a musician.”
“It is so important to compare and contrast the educational experiences in the United States and Cuba,” said Woodard. “Anytime an opportunity is afforded to our students to learn about life and educational systems outside of our community, I believe it is worthwhile and meaningful.”
Woodard explained that while this was a last moment activity, students were excited about the possibility of being included in a meaningful and global event such as this.
The entire student exchange, released as an 11-minute video, can be found at <www.discoveryeducation.com/Live/of-the-people-first-lady-michelle-obama-visits-cuba.cfm>. Boyertown’s question can be found at the 03:55 mark.
