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Notes from the Teacher’s Desk: Betty Meikle, East Garner Magnet Middle School

By Sharron Gibson
Education Editor

Some of Betty Meikle’s fondest memories are of family reunions, where cousins would gather to play Old Time, a traditional type of mountain music that features the fiddle as the main instrument.

Betty Meikle

Growing up in the small mountain town of Burnsville, N.C., however, Meikle did not have the advantage of taking classes in school to learn to play the beloved instrument. Even though her father did not play the fiddle himself, he gave her the family fiddle when she wanted to learn to play. For years she was a self-taught musician.

She began her college career at Western Carolina University but married her husband, Robert, and moved to the Clayton area before completing her teaching degree. When her children, Celeste and Connor, were young, Meikle was delighted to learn that strings classes were offered in their elementary school. She soon worked out a deal with teacher Dr. Henry Goodman where she exchanged volunteer hours in his classroom for violin lessons.

After several years of this arrangement, Dr. Goodman persuaded Meikle to return to the college classroom. She enrolled at Meredith College and completed the education degree she had begun at WCU.

In November 2008, East Garner Magnet Middle School and Garner Magnet High School began offering strings programs to teach students to play the violin, viola, cello and bass. Meikle was hired to start up the program for EGMMS.

According to Meikle, these kinds of programs are important to have in schools.

“I just really believe that kids benefit from music,” Meikle said. “There is also lots of research that students who stay in the arts for a significant amount of time tend to do better on test scores.”

The program began with a small group of students because it didn’t start until mid-semester, but it has grown quickly. The beginning orchestra class is comprised of almost 30 students, and there are six in the continuing class who began with the program last year.

This year EGMMS has added a class for beginner piano, which Meikle teaches. Twenty students are enrolled in the class, but many more signed up. The school owns a few keyboards but hopes to order more, thanks to the three-year Magnet Schools Assistant Program grant that helps fund arts programs at EGMMS and GMHS. The grant has also helped the school acquire most of the string instruments the students use.

Meikle is thankful for the grant and how it has benefited students.

“Kids that wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to take orchestra are able to because of the grant,” she said. “That’s part of the reason I became a strings teacher to start with, because kids need to have the opportunity that I didn’t have because there was no strings program in my school growing up.”

She also sees the strings program as a good fit for the International Baccalaureate philosophy at EGMMS.

Meikle says music encompasses all areas of study, including math, language, history and culture.

“I think that we bring in all of the disciplines of education,” she said. “Culture is reflected in the arts, and music is very global. It is all about making those connections.”

When not in the classroom, Meikle enjoys spending time with her husband and children, who are now 20 and 17 years old. She is an active member of the Clayton Historical Association.

Her love of history goes well with her love of music. While Old Time remains her favorite genre, she also loves classical and bluegrass music. She strives to bring that love of diverse music to her students. Currently, her orchestra students are working on classical music and music from Israel. She also believes students should learn and be proud of their own cultures and is teaching “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

“I really feel that it’s important that kids learn about their own culture, the United States, too,” she said.

She is proud of her young musicians and the progress they have made in the last year.

“Most of my students right now are still beginners, but they are making great progress. I am very proud of them. I am very fortunate — all of my classes are really great kids.”

Related articles:

• Garner teachers receive board certification
• Local first-year teachers receive Diane Kent-Parker awards
• Garner teacher assistants nominated for award

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