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    Da Capo from the Beginning: Inspiring Life Lessons from the Other Side of the Baton
    Da Capo from the Beginning: Inspiring Life Lessons from the Other Side of the Baton
    Da Capo from the Beginning: Inspiring Life Lessons from the Other Side of the Baton
    Ebook101 pages1 hour

    Da Capo from the Beginning: Inspiring Life Lessons from the Other Side of the Baton

    By Kathy Caton

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    da capo from the beginning

    Is a chronology of life lessons learned from the students that have crossed her path and how those experiences changed her perspective both in and out of the classroom.

    Here, in conversational format, Kate describes her pupils that she encountered while developing herself as a quality performing arts educator. She shares many insightful life lessons learned while engaged as teacher in the public school classroom, the community and at home. These stories, along with the telling of her own personal experiences, assist us in viewing our own experiences generated by our students as potential stepping stones to luminosity on our own evolving journey, whether it be as an educator, student or as an adult. In turn, we become aware of how we too, can build from the lessons learned by the young, the children of our future. These are not just quotes from the learned, these are priceless accounts of situations that inevitably changed the way she observed her life as a mentor, educator, parent and humanitarian. Hopefully this book will assist you in stepping back from the teaching at experience and find the wisdom to embrace the value of looking backthose jewels of wisdom from the mouths of babesinspirational moments that rise from our students lips and embracing them as tools for success as we move forward in this ever changing world.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateJan 23, 2014
    ISBN9781491839591
    Da Capo from the Beginning: Inspiring Life Lessons from the Other Side of the Baton
    Author

    Kathy Caton

    Receiving her Bachelors in Music Education from Fredonia State University and her Masters in Arts Education from Stony Brook University, Kate is recognized as a performer, recording artist, conductor, director , administrator as well as an educator. A native New Yorker, Kate has designed, composed and presented performances in a variety of venues and for a variety of causes throughout her career. While a student at The Royal School of Church Music in the UK, she had the privilege of singing for Her Majesty the Queen for the 150th celebration ceremony of the YMCA held in Westminster Abbey. Her performances include: Long Island Philharmonic Chorus, Take One Theatre , MZA Records,The International Church Music Festival in Bern, Switzerland, UUA Central Nassau, and the Lily Dale Assembly, to name a few.Collaborative efforts in educational theatrical direction and design include Annie Get Your Gun (with Chris Mc Daniel -Will Rogers Follies) Les Miserables (with Craig Schulmany) The Miracle Worker (Cleary School for the Deaf/Guide Dog Foundation), A Christmas Carol (with Jeff Sanzel- Theatre Three) Peter Pan (ZFX Las Vegas) and Cry Innocent (with Mark Stevick, Gordon College/History Alive!) As a singer/songwriter, Kate has toured and recorded five children’s albums to date for the MZA Label and has performed her children’s concerts at venues all through the east coast including New York and Capital Children’s Museum as well as The Ronald McDonald House. Kate has also had the pleasure throughout her career of working with such notables as Harry Chapin, Peter Perret (BPO) Sir David Willcocks, Paul Leddington Wright, Ted Vigil and an impromptu singing duet with Barry Manilow. Kate has had the pleasure of taking her choirs on tour and competitions throughout the US and abroad and featured as guest conductor at Chautauqua Institute’s All County Festival and Westfield Chamber Music Festival. She was also invited to present a lecture on the performing arts at The NYSSMA All State Convention. Kate was the founding Choral Director of The Smithtown Arts Council Community Choir, Artistic Director, curriculum writer and ITS Advisor for both Newfield and Mt Greylock's High School’s Theatre department, NYSSMA Vocal adjudicator and presently, teaching performing arts coursework at Mt Greylock Regional High School and per diem teaching at The Williams College Children's Center, both in Williamstown, MA. Kate has owned and operated her own vocal studio for the last twenty five years and has seen the success of her educational expertise through many previous private as well as public school students. Kate Caton follows in the footsteps of her grandfather William Cooper; musician and inventor, published songwriter, US Army Band and NJ Regional Orchestra Conductor. She has remarried; has two children; her son, Eric , a choral and dance educator and her daughter, Jessica, a kindergarten teacher and new mother in CT. She, and her husband David, own two Labrador retrievers; one, a Guide dog rescue. She is an avid walker and holistic supporter who believes that physical activity and living a healthy lifestyle balances the body and mind. Kate believes that every day offers us all life lessons, whether it be from students or any of our encounters during the day; we as humans, just have to keep ourselves open to embrace these daily gems of wisdom and work at incorporating them in our daily life's mantra.

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      Book preview

      Da Capo from the Beginning - Kathy Caton

      © 2014 Kathy Caton. All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      Published by AuthorHouse 01/20/2014

      ISBN: 978-1-4918-3960-7 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4918-3959-1 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013921800

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

      and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Contents

      Introduction

      Introduction Every new day is another chance to change your life

      Chapter 1 Adrian’s Sneakers

      Chapter 2 Indian Hollow—1979

      Chapter 3 I Can Do That!

      Chapter 4 Taking on the Theatre as a classroom

      Chapter 5 Gardening 101

      Chapter 6 The Miracle Worker

      Chapter 7 the Mother of the Bride—Sweet Marisa

      Chapter 8 Creative Arts and the Life Skills experience

      Chapter 9 County Crossroads

      Chapter 10 Never let your handicap define who you are—RSD coffeehouse

      Chapter 11 Our Canine Companions

      Chapter 12 Music and Masque

      Chapter 13 My Senior Pupils of another generation

      Chapter 14 Flight and Fire

      Chapter 15 They Call the Wind, Mariah…

      Chapter 16 Out of the mouth of babes—Billsville

      Epilogue From Cadence to Resolution

      Author Bio

      Songs my mother taught me in the days long vanished;

      seldom from her eyelids were the teardrops banished.

      Now I teach my children each melodious measure;

      often tears are flowing from my mem’ry’s treasure.

      Songs my mother taught me in days long vanished;

      seldom from her eyelids were the teardrops banished.

      Songs my mother taught me—Music by Charles Ives

      poetry by Adolf Heyduk (1835-1923)

      translation by Natalie Macfarren (1826-1916)

      I dedicate this book in loving memory of my mother, Beverly,

      Who gave me jewels of intrinsic wisdom to take with me on my life’s journey… .

      And to my father, George,

      For granting me the serenity to accept the things I could not change,

      having the courage to change the things I could,

      And having wisdom to know the difference.

      Introduction

      ‘From the mouths of children…

      I have composed a song of praise Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)

      Just another ordinary day—January 17, 2012; it is a Tuesday and a tad wintry and drizzling. Working through my normal routine; coffee brewing, vitamin support and a canine cruise looming, I succumbed to the green couch to ingest in the worlds’ wisdom (CBS News) and my laptop. As I strolled through the assortment of sites on the internet, I glance at my Face book page; as a rule, I generally only post valuable tools for living, however I keep my account active in order to keep tabs on the many students I have had in my twenty plus years of teaching. Reading stories about new birth, wedding pictures, career and party chatter and life blogging from many students that have embraced life and some that stumble through it have been entertaining and fulfilling. I give a poke here and there yet rarely ever post… until today.

      One of my choral alumni posted a video he made… not your ordinary childish video, but a video with a fantastical story and a happy ending… the kind of stories I would direct when teaching Theatre at a local high school. Larry posted his proposal to his girlfriend, however, he went all out; costumes, set design, music, dialogue and for what? Not for fame, but to share and celebrate his love.

      The video was a twenty minute romp through the life of an orange; actually a half of an orange, looking of his other or better half. Cute, whimsical, funny, touching, creative, romantic and heartfelt, I posted my feelings on his wall. What a delightful way to begin my day, having him share the next chapter of his life with us all!

      My response… this book. And why? Because it was then and only then that I realized that in reading his and every other posting from my students, how truly inspired I have become… I have made the choice to learn from many of my pupils over the years and the gifts of wisdom and insight they have offered to me over the years has made me the individual I am today. And for that and more, I am grateful…

      This book chronicles a handful of pupils of thousands I have met along my life’s journey and how I allowed them to enable me to build upon my craft as a teacher, mentor, parent, friend and humanitarian. Some names have been changed for privacy purposes however, the stories are real. These are not just quotes from the learned… these are priceless accounts of situations I was placed in that inevitable change the way I looked at my life moving forward. I pay homage to all of the students that crossed my path however, share a few stories of special significance throughout this book. Hopefully the story of my journey will assist you in stepping back from the teaching at experience and find the jewels of wisdom that have come forth from your students lips. Welcome and enjoy the ride!

      Introduction

      Every new day is another chance to change your life

      My first experience being a teacher actually occurred when teaching Vacation Bible School at my church. We were doing a unit on springtime; plants, fruit and vegetables’, etc… and I, as their teen youth educator, proposed the questions to these energetic preschoolers, as we were crafting collages from magazines and pasting on colored paper…

      Where do vegetables come from?

      One little cutesy blondie, Kaitlin, jumped up from the floor and responded with passion in her voice; Well, she said, in a high pitched voice, Jesus drops them from the skies and they fall down to the ground and the stores pick them up and bring them to the people! We all had a silent chuckle, however we did end up helping to guide our little passion flower to seeds, growth, germination and did eventually get to the Jesus part. However, it was experiencing that exuberance from her that day about knowledge, understanding and conviction that I fell in love with the art of teaching. To be a direct participant in students’ learning and being there to reap the results is an incredible reward. Yes, with some students, their may be a struggle with new and challenging subject matter, however observing there acquisition of knowledge and witnessing their overall success is the best high anyone can ever wish for. Watching the seeds grow and supporting the enrichment of these little minds was so rewarding.

      As I now take a step back from the many years in the classroom, I have acquired jewels of knowledge from many of my past students. I always look at every opportunity as a learning step and when I witness student’s participation in my classroom environment, I too, have taken quite a bit of knowledge from these little masters. It was these gems that enabled me the flexibility to journey on as a positive role model. I truly believe that once a teacher stops learning, they stop growing. Opening myself up to learning from these pupils allowed me access to valued life lessons; these tools I take with me wherever I go, whatever I facilitate and however I move forward. Now, it is time to share these jewels and pay it forward. It is my hope that by reading these vignettes, you too, will revisit some of those life altering instances where your students made a difference…

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