Drew Beaty

North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana is one of the most diverse high

schools in every way possible. It is located off of a busy street in a busy American city. It was

established in 1956 in order to accommodate a rapidly growing population. Today, it serves the

MSD Washington Township which consists of many economic statuses, races, religion, and

cultures. Of the more than 3,500 student population, thirty-seven percent are white, making the

minorities, the majority. Of the minority student population, forty-one percent are black, twelve

percent are Hispanic, four percent are Asian, and seven percent are multiracial. Half of the

student body is economically disadvantaged and qualify for either free or reduced price lunches.

The school does a fantastic job of accommodating and including students from all walks of life.

North Central Orchestra

The first thing I noticed about the orchestra room was that it was a big open room with

very little dividers. The only obstacle in the room was a pole that ran from floor to ceiling in the

middle of the room. However, nobody was behind the pole and was placed so that they could see

the conductor easily. Most of the items in the room were lining the walls. The lockers, extra

instruments, and filing cabinets were all discreetly against the wall. There was a covered mirror

on the wall behind the conductor. It was covered in a mundane black curtain. There was a screen

that had a projection of the upcoming events and practices the students need to know about. It

was in front of the class by the conductor so that every student could see it. The last thing I

noticed about the environment was how the students backpacks were all in one corner of the

room. The only thing the students had were their music and their instruments.
 The class is offered for fifty-six minutes every weekday. In the particular class I

observed, they were practicing the pieces they learned as a whole. The teacher, Craig Ghormley,

mentioned how other days were dedicated to intonation and other techniques, but the class I

observed was dedicated mainly to running the pieces. Within the piece, they worked mainly on

articulation, dynamics, and balance. The teacher even went as far as to say that the students

shouldnt worry about playing the notes correctly because that would be fixed in individual

practice time. The teacher was very direct with the students. He was not harsh, but he was very

clear with what he expected from them. He joked with the kids, but at the same time told them

expressively when they made a mistake, and told them exactly how he wanted it corrected. It was

clear he had the students respect because they were very disciplined and focused. He mainly

worked through verbal communication. He kept everyone on the same track by noting certain

dynamics and notes as the students played through the piece. The overall feel of the class was

productive and relaxed. No one was too tense, but everyone was efficient and focused.

By the end of the class, the students were able to play through the piece with more

proficiency and accuracy than before. As the students were packing up, I could get the feeling

that they were proud of the progress and of the music they made that day in class. They left more

encouraged than when they came in and I feel that that is where Mr. Ghormley truly succeeded.

North Central Orchestra

Craig Ghormley was named the 2016 High School Music Teacher of the Year by the

Indiana Chapter of the American String Teachers Association and just by sitting in one of his
classes, I could see some of the reasons why. He ran his classroom with humor and discipline. As

soon as he stopped the orchestra, he began to talk and give the corrections he needed to give.

And as soon as he stopped talking he got the orchestra playing again as soon as possible. I feel as

though this was to not only optimize their time in class, but also to keep the class focused. He

wanted to make sure that when he stopped, the students didnt fill the dead time with chatter, so

he tries to minimize the space between activities.

He treated his class as more of a check in with heavy emphasis on individual practice

than an instruction based class. This class, was meant to be a check in while other serve as more

technical classes where he will teach and help them build their technical playing skills as

musicians. He never just gave correction. Most of the time his correction came with the reason

why correcting the mistake was important. I feel as though this method helped the students to

prioritize and find the urgency in the correction in the same way the he did. He also accompanied

his corrections with references to individual assessments such as playing tests. He also requires

the student to send recordings of them practicing individually.

Mr. Ghormley also kept telling the students to write notes down in their music. The notes

consisted of dynamic and tempo markings. He even had students put fermatas over certain notes

as an insurance that they will look up from their music and at him, the conductor. He used clever

ways to get exactly what he wanted from his orchestra.

Counterpoints

As we did not sit in on a class at the beginning of the year, I dont know the explicit set of

rules, but it was obvious from watching them that they knew what the rules were. They were

disciplined, organized and enthusiastic. At the beginning of the class, the students were a bit
rambunctious, but I attributed this to them not being in their normal classroom environment and

also the added excitement to us being there. They took a long time to get set up and into their

places, but as they did, all the students snapped into focus. I amazed to watch as their eyes

followed the director as he moved. As the director moved along the stage, everybodys eyes

followed him and some students even angled their bodies towards him in an effort to give him all

their attention.

The students were independent and were trusted to move around the room as they needed

to. Whether it was getting a tissue or leaving early, they were nondisruptive and quick before

falling back into their places and participating once again. Some of the students had outbursts in

the beginning of class before the whole group had settled down, but the teacher did not

aggressively quiet anyone down and it seemed like the energy of the group calmed down on its

own. The students, as they were older and part of a more mature ensemble, seemed to really have

a handle on what was appropriate class behaviour and what was not. All in all, the group seemed

to manage themselves without to much of the teacher needing to correct their behaviour and it

was very impressive.

I had an auditioned choir in my high school called Jazz Choir and it was supposed to be

our version of a show choir. However, the choir director did not know how to dance and was not

interested in learning how to dance. Therefore, the choreography for the group was never as

good as it could have been. I watched the television show, Glee, but thought that the level of

high school show choir could only be attained by professionals. So seeing the Counterpoints was

so shocking for me. It was absolutely amazing to see these performers, not too much younger
than myself, performing as well as I had seen on a television show. It was the most inspiring

thing to see. And to think that they werent even performing at their best, was incredible to me.