9 Life Lessons from Musical Rehearsals

by Emily Spaeth

Early Childhood/Lower School Music Teacher

While in the midst of yet another rehearsal for our holiday concert in December, a by-stander remarked, “Is all of this practice really necessary?”  It started me thinking about all of the benefits our students reap from rehearsals, leading up to a big performance.  At EMS, all of our teachers understand that we have an obligation to academically prepare students for success in the classroom, but we are also committed to the other tenants of our mission:  encouraging independent thinking, cultivating individual talents, and fostering a joy of lifelong learning.  In other words, we focus on the "whole child."  As we approach the end of the academic year, and all the special events and performances that mark the occasion, I thought it might be an appropriate time to discuss what children "get" from performance, practice and rehearsal.

1) Resilience and Diligence
No matter how much we may prepare for something, it may still not go the way we expected it to.  To this end, we begin practicing for our performances months in advance.  Many students think they are ready before the first all-inclusive rehearsal, but often that first rehearsal does not go well.  Rather than throwing in the towel, it is important to encourage the children to brush themselves off, get back up and try again.  Students learn that by examining what went wrong, fixing the problems and committing to make it better, they can succeed.  We may not get it right the first time, but the children understand that they'll get it eventually, and usually the end result is better than we could have ever imagined!

2) Patience
When preparing for a performance, there are many moving pieces that need to be rehearsed.  Oftentimes, at least a small portion of each rehearsal requires some students to sit quietly while others are practicing their parts.  Learning to wait patiently is a valuable skill that children (and for adults as well) must work at consistently in order to achieve.

3) Respect
Patience goes hand-in-hand with Respect as during each performance we try to have a moment where each group or grade level has a chance to shine.  While some are performing, the other students learn to respect the work that their fellow classmates are doing, or have done.  They also learn that they don’t need to be the center of attention at all times.  When they learn to share the spotlight, true understanding and collaboration is possible in their lives.

4) Flexibility
Our performances are carefully planned months in advance, in collaboration with all of the music teachers.  However, during rehearsals with the full group, we sometimes realize that the song order should be changed, or a dance needs to be added.  We encourage the students to understand that if they are well prepared, any changes we incur need not be upsetting.  Flexibility is an important tool in success.  The students see that if something is not working, it’s okay to make changes to improve it, even if it wasn’t in the initial design.


5) Attention to Detail
Many times in rehearsal, we practice small items, such as making sure the “t” at the end of a word can be heard, or the inflection of a phrase sounds a certain way.  When rehearsing, students begin to understand that these tiny details can change a song from average to extraordinary.  This attention to detail can carry over into everything they do.

6) Working Together as a Group
When performing with a large group, students learn that it’s important to work together.  Of course, the success of the performance depends on each student doing their part to the best of their ability, but when students embrace collaboration, it teaches them that by working together, we can create something much bigger, more powerful than each of them as individuals.  Think of Music as the ultimate team sport where the best part is that everyone wins!

7) Public Performance
The ability to stand up in front of a group and speak or perform is important, and musical performances can provide a valuable step in that process.  While safely surrounded by their classmates, each student gets the experience of sharing their voices and talents to a large, and appreciative, audience.   The confidence gained may later encourage students to speak their mind, share ideas, or become leaders.

8) Pride of Ownership
We all appreciate something more when we know we have worked hard to achieve it.  When the students have diligently practiced words, music and movements for a performance, it becomes truly THEIRS.  They learn to take pride in the finished product because they know that the time and energy they put into the concert is what made it spectacular.

9) Enjoying the Experience
While the week of rehearsals leading up to the performance may be challenging, students learn that with proper preparation and focus, the end product is an enjoyable and rewarding experience.  It is clear to us, as educators, that the students who challenge themselves to learn the music, end up having the most fun (and less stress) because in knowing the material they can relax and enjoy the experience and accomplishment of performing.

A Great Fall Season of After School Adventures!

Liza Jones Hards

Director of Auxiliary Programs

This fall the After School Adventures program filled The Elisabeth Morrow School with many interesting sights, sounds and smells during our eight weeks of classes.  Students were happy, engaged, creative and challenged. Beginning Chess students enjoyed learning the basics of chess while our Intermediate Chess class challenged their classmates in class tournaments.  Students were thrilled to participate in hands-on experiments and observations in Mad Science classes while Mrs. Milne’s “Science Alive” class also helped students learn more about our beautiful EMS Campus and lively animals in the Little School Science room.  Recipes from the “Simply Delicious” cookbook were mixed together and sampled in our Little School cooking class and fabulous t-shirt fashions were created in the “Fashion Design Stars” class. Sports in Little School and Intramurals in Morrow House kept our students active and moving and our Creative Dance class in Little School even got parents up and moving as part of an end of the session class share.  Students also had the opportunity to learn about the Chinese culture and language in our two Chinese language classes.  Other classes included “ Magical Mysteries”, “Friday Fun” and “Epic Adventures”.   The next session of After School Adventures will begin on February 4, 2013.  Class booklets and registration information will be available January 16.  We have many new and exciting offerings for our next session. For more information, please contact the Office of Auxiliary Programs at ext. 7150.  Thank you to our students and teachers for a great session of After School Adventures! 

Thank You EMS Book Fair Chairs and Volunteers

2012 Book Fair Chairs – Adrienne Anderson and Karen Toback

What a week this has been!  I want to thank you and express my admiration for your work in making the Book Fair a great success.  Your hours of volunteered time, your good cheer, your donations of café food and gift books, and your participation in the event – often despite not having power or with the snow pelting down outside – have played an enormous role in reminding us all of the power and depth of the Elisabeth Morrow community.  

I would like to extend special thanks to Adrienne Anderson and Karen Toback, who planned and executed a wonderful event despite the extenuating circumstances.  From setting up in the cold and dark the Thursday before the Fair to being among the last to leave the night of the snow storm, their leadership and perseverance serve as an excellent example to us all – and to our children.

Aaron Cooper
Head of School

A Visit from Gabriel Bol Deng

Gabriel Bol Deng, Hope for Ariang

The Elisabeth Morrow School welcomed Gabriel Bol Deng, executive director and founder of Hope for Ariang.  Gabriel shared his harrowing story about his flight from the Sudanese civil war in 1987, the life-threatening challenges he faced along the way, and his steadfast determination to hang on to hope.  In two assemblies, Gabriel spoke to both the Middle and Lower School, telling them that few things are more important than hope and education; he and Hope for Ariang have made it their mission "to make education accessible for all children and adults in Southern Sudan by removing cultural and socio-economic barriers with a special focus on girls' education–one village at a time."  Currently, Hope for Ariang is working toward the sustainability of the Ariang school.  To read about Gabriel's incredible exodus from Sudan to Ethiopia , follow this LINK.  

The Elisabeth Morrow School Community Raises $6,000 for The Caroline Fund

Left to right:  Linda Stanton (Administrative Director Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital), Fran Jones (Manager of Operations Hackensack UMC Foundation), Steve Sakovits, Mitchell Lynn, Anna Lynn, Nancy Lynn, Dr. Michael B. Harris (Director of Tomorrows Children's Institute) , Barbara Sakovits, Caroline Sakovits, Jane Phend (Principal of Elisabeth Morrow), Gael Barile (Second Grade teacher), Kimberly Caesar (Director of Development for Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital) 

Courtesy of Angela Thomas, Prana Marketing
Englewood Cliffs, NJ, April 23, 2012 


Seven-year old Anna Lynn, a second-grader at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, New Jersey, wanted to honor her classmate, Caroline Sakovits, a patient at The Tomorrows Children’s Institute (TCI) for Cancer and Blood Disorders at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center.  Anna had heard Caroline talk about The Caroline Fund and how it helps children who are very sick.  Moved by her story, Anna and her mother Nancy Lynn, Executive Vice President of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, mobilized a team of EMS second-grade Moms to help organize a bake sale. 

Second Grade Bake Sale - March 22, 2012 - Grace Muller Courtyard

Dozens of EMS families volunteered to bake over 800 scrumptious treats, which were eagerly snapped up by students, families and staff at an event held on March 22nd, as Anna, Caroline and some of their classmates proudly worked the tables. Unsold items were brought to the hospital, where they were enjoyed by patients and their families. 


As well, in a show of community solidarity, the EMS fourth graders dedicated their third annual talent show to The Caroline Fund.  Young singers, dancers, musicians, and comedians entertained their classmates and family members, while the proceeds from admission were then added to the bake sale fundraising.

The Little School's efforts certainly help in supporting a worthy cause.  Established in July 2006 by Steve and Barbara Sakovits, in honor of their daughter, The Caroline Fund provides much needed morale for children struggling with serious illness.   TCI’s team of specialists believe that children are not simply small adults, that they have unique psychological and developmental needs that require as much attention as their medical issues. To this end, The Caroline Fund helps the Institute provide special programs, such as Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy.  By incorporating arts & crafts, music, video games and many more activities, TCI seeks to reduce stress, bring joy, promote recovery and provide some of the aspects of normalcy that are vital to the overall well-being of their young patients. 



The support from The Elisabeth Morrow Community was truly generous.  On April 12, the EMS community presented a check for $6000, dedicated for The Caroline Fund, to The Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation.  

If you would like to learn more about The Caroline Fund, please visit www.thecarolinefund.org.

John Hunter and World Peace Game

by Aaron Cooper

Assistant Head of School

Click Here to see TED talk

I had the opportunity to attend a talk by John Hunter, 4th grade teacher and TED speaker, while at the National Association of Independent Schools Conference in Seattle.  Mr. Hunter spoke about his World Peace Game, developed over the course of his 30 year career. From his website, the game is described as a "hands-on political simulation that gives players the opportunity to explore the connectedness of the global community through the lens of the economic, social, and environmental crises and the imminent threat of war (1)." From my perspective, this wonderful game establishes high expectations while giving students an opportunity to collaborate, create and solve "real-world" problems, as they work toward "winning."  

Good teachers think alike it seems.  Mr. Hunter's talk made me reflect upon the game-like initiatives we already have in place at EMS.  Ms. Malmstrom's tech curriculum involving MMOG's like Minecraft or Quest Atlantis, and Mr. Penny's City Game come to mind as similar, middle-school examples.  But "immersive" games like these happen across each grade level at our School. Mr. Hunter's World Peace Game (as well as our own games), when you see them in action, are refreshing reminders of what children can achieve when given an engaging and dynamic framework to think critically and collectively.

You don't have to take my word for it though; you can watch Mr. Hunter's TED talk or review his World Peace Game Foundation website if you would like more information.  As well, the game serves as the backdrop for a new movie debuting on PBS this Spring, called World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements.  To watch a trailer of the film, click here.

(1)  http://www.worldpeacegame.org/world-peacegame-foundation/about-the-game

The Value of Our Efforts

By David M. Lowry, Ph.D.

Head of School

Winter 2012

During the last two eighth-grade trips to Washington, D.C., we had the honor of meeting with the newly appointed Supreme Court justice.  In 2010 it was Sonia Sotomayor, and last year it was Elena Kagan.  By dint of the projects that the students completed in history class and shared in advance, both of these impressive women met with our students for about 45 minutes, answering questions, talking about their backgrounds and experiences, and sharing their views on their new responsibilities.

To go “behind the scene” at the Supreme Court is stirring and humbling in itself, but to spend time, in person, with judges who are at the very top of our government, whom you only know from their media presence, is equally heady.  As I reflect upon these visits, recalling the exchange of questions and conversation between our young students and the two Supreme Court justices, I find my convictions reaffirmed as to the cumulative value of an Elisabeth Morrow education.  Aside from the good fortune of just being there and having this experience at this age (I certainly never had the equivalent), I noted that the significance of this meeting was not lost on our students.  Try to imagine: there they were, our thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds, poised, articulate, well-mannered (and well-dressed), clearly well-prepared and thoughtful in their questions (charged with relevant information), but perhaps most importantly, highly engaged in the moment.

As we were leaving, the intern who led us to our meeting room pulled me back by the shoulder, slowing my pace so that the students were ahead of me.  She said, “You know, we’ve all been talking about your students.”

“Oh, is something wrong?” I responded.

“Oh, no; we all noticed how polite and respectful they were.  How incredibly knowledgeable they were about the Supreme Court and its major cases.  What good questions they asked.  It is rare to see a group like this.  You are very lucky.”

For some, there are several quantitative measures that determine the success of a student or the quality of a school—tests, portfolios, placement, the acquisition of skills—but these things pale in their accuracy, in my opinion, when you are witnessing children embrace their curiosity, their desire to learn and to know. Truly, on these two occasions, our students were something to see.  I was as proud as any parent would have been, but I have to disagree with that intern.  Luck had little to do with it. On the contrary, luck does not propel these young people to this level.  The credit, in fact, lies with their families, their teachers and themselves—only when such synergy exists between home and school can such results be achieved.  The intern complimented me on our students, so, in turn, I compliment you, our dedicated Elisabeth Morrow community.

Although I can offer no standardized measure, I have seen with my own eyes the value of our efforts.