Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • Fall 2021 9 Music Education Yes! Covid hit hard and early in the greater Seattle Area. Kirkland, WA was the sight of some of the first Covid cases reported. Mercer Island School District is indeed an island, but one in the middle of Lake Washington very near Kirkland. It is home to a stellar K-12 Music Program featuring K-5 General Music and Band, Choir, and Orchestra Programs in grades 5-12. Mercer Island Orchestra Program Director and longtime SAI, Vicki White Miltun, was faced with this dilemma: How do you start a 5 th grade beginning orchestra class? How can they learn to play together when the only person they ever hear play is you? How do you know what they are doing on Zoom if their cameras are off and you can't hear them except one at a time? And how do you get them tuned? e Orchestra Parent Booster Group (Team-O, Friends of the Mercer Island Orchestra) swung into action by hiring a section coach, Sarah Hart, to hold small group "breakouts". Every student received 2 lessons a week with Vicki and one shorter session with Sarah. e local string shop provided tuning and instrument care videos. Parents stepped up and a few learned to play (actually had instruments and participated in the Zoom). e kids themselves got right up in the cameras to see better and ask questions. Perhaps the best part was the High School Orchestra students who wanted the 5 th Graders to feel like members of the Orchestra Family, which had been a hallmark of their orchestra experience. Two of them, Norah Evans and Jared Marcus, volunteered to come to the two Zoom classes a week that Sarah couldn't cover. ey led the class, gave special help, and did limited breakouts, giving Vicki more time with kids one on one. A big problem was getting them all tuned. Explaining how to tune on Zoom when the students have weak wrists and, even with a "tuner," can't figure out which direction to turn the peg or fine tuner. Again the High School Students stepped up to solve the problem. 5 th graders who needed help had the email of a HS student who lived in their neighborhood and made the contact themselves. Here is how the routine went: At the appointed time, the 5 th grader put their instrument in front of their front door. e HS student walked, rode their bike, or drove up in their mask and tuned the instrument. ey put it back in the case and rang the doorbell. e High School Student and the 5 th grader waved! At last the big day came — on June 6th, they were allowed an outdoor in person concert, of course with masks and social distancing. e class had never seen each other or their helpers or teacher in person. Coming for the rehearsal and staying for the concert, parents and friends sat on lawn chairs and blankets. Everyone helped get the class into a socially distanced orchestra set up, although they kept scooting closer together. At the first note of the D scale, there was not a dry eye in the "house." Everyone knew that this was a very special time. Jared, who led the army of student "tuners", said at the end that he had finally met his "tuning family!" Vicki White Miltun was initiated at the University of Arkansas by the Sigma Omicron Chapter where she served as President of the Chapter. She is a longtime member and former president of the Seattle Alumnae Chapter. In 2008, Vicki was named High School Music Teacher of the Year by the National Federation of High Schools. Vicki holds an SAI Sword of Honor. — Nancy Matesky, Editor, Seattle Alumnae Chapter An Orchestra Tuning Brigade From left: From left: Jared Marcus, Jared Marcus, Norah Evans, Norah Evans, a 5th grade student, a 5th grade student, and Vicki White Miltun and Vicki White Miltun

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