Grand Ledge schools music teacher Cathy Fox earns state-wide recognition

GRAND LEDGE — Nearly every music-educator-to-be starts college with memories of their own high school music experience swirling around in their brain as they set their sights on becoming a music teacher.

Cathy Fox said she was no exception.

"I was very active in music in my high school and I couldn't imagine not having it be part of my life," Fox said. "I was in orchestra and choir and I played the piano."

While she wanted to teach, she hadn't considered elementary music education and its impact on younger children until a professor at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio gave her the "bug" through his lessons on different ways to reach elementary children.

"When I was in elementary school, we just sat in chairs and sang from music textbooks," Fox recalled.

Fox has spent two decades of her 36 years of teaching at Grand Ledge Public Schools, including the past 11 at Wacousta Elementary School.

Her students don't simply sit in their chairs; they use "a little bit of everything," Fox said. They play and sing with scarves and puppets, and use recorders and ukuleles to learn harmonies and how to keep a beat.

"The goal is to help them be the best musician they can be," Fox, an Okemos resident, said.

Her career as an elementary music teacher is a testament to how much the profession can mean for students, fellow educators and a community.

And in recognition, this month the longtime teacher has been honored as the 2022 "Music Educator of the Year" by the Michigan Music Education Association.

An inspiration for other educators

Before Denise Wilkinson, 63, retired from teaching two years ago, it was Fox who inspired her.

Wilkinson watched Fox mentor 10 student teachers at Michigan State University, and thought, "Maybe I should do that too?"

"Even at my age, and that point of my career, she was a good role model for me to continue seeking out new things for my students," she said.

Fox never missed an opportunity to take on professional development sessions and could be counted on to bring fresh, relevant lesson plans to her classroom, Wilkinson said.

It was Fox who first brought ukuleles into Grand Ledge's elementary music classrooms. That was 12 years ago. Today other music teachers in the district have followed her lead, introducing the instruments, which are smaller and easier to handle than guitars, to their students.

Susan Burm, a music teacher at Grand Ledge's Willow Ridge Elementary, said Fox encouraged her to begin using the small instruments.

"I think kids can be really successful in playing on the ukulele immediately," Burm said. "I think they learn a few chords and are able to right away play a song that they are familiar with."

Fox taught all four of Sara Taylor's children, who now range from ages 7 to 17. Taylor said the love of music Fox's lessons instilled in her kids stuck. Three of Taylor's children went on to join their school's band, one has taken part in musicals and two of them still play the ukulele.

"They've continued to learn it outside of her classroom and have used their own resources to continue their education and figure out how to play beyond what she taught them," Taylor said.

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A rewarding profession

Fox has presented ukulele workshops at Michigan State University, in Flint and Lansing, and at the state level.

She's also showcased students who play the instrument, gathering Grand Ledge teachers and their students to play during the community's Color Cruise and Island Festival several years in a row.

"We never had a practice," Wilkinson said. "We would just all teach those songs, all the music teachers. Then we would show up with any students in our sixth grade that wanted to perform at that festival. It was just unbelievable and so cool how we could just all come together and we could all make music together."

Fox admits she isn't a fan of being in the spotlight, but the state award is "an honor," she said.

Still, teaching music comes with its own rewards, Fox said. She enjoys watching so many of her students go on to join the high school band or choir.

But even those who don't take something important away with them, she said.

"My belief is that music is part of what makes us human," Fox said. "We all carry around this singing voice and we sing our babies to sleep. We snap our fingers to the beat when we're listening to music. We're all musical, so I think it's really important that they can be the best musicians that they can be."

Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ .

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Grand Ledge schools music teacher Cathy Fox receives state-wide award