OAKE Outstanding Educator Award for Anne Laskey
Anne Laskey, Associate Professor and Director of the Kodály Program at Holy Names University, was awarded the 2008 OAKE Outstanding Educator Award. This was announced at the banquet during the 2008 OAKE National Conference in Denver, Colorado and welcomed with a minutes-long ongoing standing ovation from the hundreds of people attending the banquet. It was immediately clear how much this award for Anne was supported by her colleagues.
Nancy Linford, who read the laudatio, began with quoting Dr. Jerry Jaccard:
Who is one of the sweetest persons on the planet?
Who continually supports and cheers on colleagues?
Who lovingly nurtures and nudges students into fine teachers? Who diplomatically asks the tough questions, digs deep for the answers and then so generously shares with others?
Who is this gifted educator and leader we so adore?
The answer is of course Anne Laskey.
Nancy Linford continued saying that she was so honored to represent the many people who had nominated Anne for this long-deserved, well-and-truly earned award, mentioning that for those who have never worked with Anne everything she will say about her will be not enough to describe the depth, strength, vision and artistry of this deceptively quiet woman. And even those who know her can miss how amazing she is because she is always sharing credit with others for her vast accomplishments.
People knowing Anne well do know that she is an extraordinary teacher; that her manner is gentle, respectful, patient and encouraging. Nancy Linford tells that she has watched her turn many a difficult, non-participating child into a capable, joyful music maker with mastery of the curriculum at that grade level. How does she do this? She observes and affirms each student’s personality and musical level and with subtle and artful weaving of musical elements into her lessons invites their musical growth. They simply cannot resist the power of her teaching.
What works for elementary students also applies to her teaching of students at Holy Names University where she has taught and administered the Kodály masters program for 15 years. Anne doesn’t expect students to teach the way she teaches; rather she encourages them to discover who they are and who they can become as teachers and musicians. To these students, she is so much more than a teacher – she is advisor, counselor, mother confessor, quiet cheerleader, and supporter of creative ideas – even impulses – always encouraging the students to discover for themselves.
Anne Laskey’s work and influence go far beyond the students she teaches: Ten years ago Anne single-handedly launched a children’s choral festival at Holy Names for school and community choirs conducted by Kodály-trained teachers. In 2004 she was National Program Chair for the OAKE National Conference in San Francisco. She is organizing a 40th anniversary celebration at Holy Names University this summer. She is a tireless presenter at conferences; she writes letters, speaks to parents, speaks to school staffs – promoting the principles of music teaching she knows so well and making them clear to all.
Perhaps Anne’s widest reaching project has been the online folksong collection she and her colleague, Gail Needleman, have labored over – researching materials at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., notating and analyzing these treasures, and putting them on the web for all to use. Through this research, they have rediscovered gems for teaching that are not found in our usual “Kodály bibles” and field recordings are accessible for many of these songs.
(With gratitude to Nancy Linford for the permission to use the text of her laudatio as a basis for the article)