Thursday, February 10, 2011

Meet Mr. Trust

Hard to believe that everybody’s favorite music teacher, Paul Trust, did not start his career journey anywhere near music education. His original goal was marketing and advertising, which, of course, we could all easily picture him doing.

Ultimately, though, and luckily for us, he chose his stronger passion. He joyfully shares that love every day with PS 39 students.

“My sister, who is four years older than me, was a drummer,” he says of his musical beginnings in Rockland County, New York.  “She was always involved with the band. I always watched her.  She would always be with her practice pad, very diligent in trying to get better. She had her upper classmen that she really loved to learn from. And I learned from her. You learn by watching others to see how they do.”

He had a teaching influence as well, to complete the Paul Trust remix.

“My mother’s a teacher, so it kind of runs in the family,” he says.

Not long after watching his sister bond and grow with the drums, he chose his own musical path. However, his choice was quite a different sound.


“When in third grade I had to choose an instrument,” he says. “I chose the tuba, only because my best friend chose the tuba. Little did I know that it would dictate the rest of my life.  It’s funny how things work out like that.

“I loved the tuba. It was this humongous instrument and at first I was making these horrendous sounds out of it. Over time, though, I really worked at trying to get better.  I finally could say I was a musician and really play the instrument.”

Even at an early age, people were noticing that Mr. Trust had a special relationship with music.

He says, “I just remember some of my teachers from first, second and third grade who would come to see our concerts. They would notice how into it I was. I’d be tapping, I’d be moving, so they realized that I really enjoyed music. It really starts from elementary school and what you do with it.

“From there, I continued with tuba all throughout junior high and high school. Some of my friends were playing guitar, and so I started to get involved in bands. Tuba really wasn’t such a rock-and-roll instrument, so I switched over to bass guitar. And I continued with bands all the way through college.”

While at the State University of New York Oswego, he majored in business with plans to get buttoned-down in the business of marketing.

 “When I first moved to the city, I tried to get into the advertising world,” he says, “but I hit my head against a concrete block. I could not get into creative. I could get jobs in ad sales, but not creative. So I thought, I could really try to work hard at that, or I could work really hard at what I love even more, which is music.”
So off he went, for his second bachelors, at City College. His major was Jazz Performance. Eventually, he earned a masters in music education from Queens College.

His first stop: teaching at a high school in Queens for four years. But fate held even more in store for him – and for us.

“I wanted to try something different,” he says, “so I decided to look around. Just through some of the avenues I pursued, my resume wound up with Ms. De Paz. She interviewed me and PS 39 sounded like a great school.

“As I said, I really fell in love with music from my elementary time. I’ve already done the high school for several years, so I decided to check out elementary school. And I love it.”

His experience at PS 39 keeps him playing many different tunes.

He says, “With high school students, there is a difference between the freshman and the seniors, even though they are all still young adults at that point. But I come to this school and I teach everything from Pre-K to fifth, and the difference is so huge.

“With Pre-K, it’s really a lot about exposure and movements and expressiveness. But in fifth grade, we’re trying to read through music charts and gain experience with music notation and performance and instruments and what have you. So I really get a nice, broad spectrum.”

Through his teaching at PS 39, Mr. Trust has uncovered some truths about students and music.

“I think there are some students who gravitate toward music,” he says. “It seems to come naturally to them. But I also want to say that just because somebody shows a gift doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going to be a better musician than someone who doesn’t.

“I feel a lot about what makes a good musician is your ability to focus and to work on your craft. It doesn’t matter how great your gift is if you don’t put it to use. So someone who is maybe not [musically gifted] may not find it as easy as someone else, but if they really work at it, they can become a fantastic musician.

“Charlie Parker, the great jazz saxophonist, was apparently horrible when he started. Papa Joe Jones threw a cymbal at him at an Open Mike to get him off the stage. So he went home and he practiced and practiced and practiced. And now he’s one of the greatest jazz artists who ever lived. It’s just a matter of putting your mind to it and focusing.”

Mr. Trust also has advice for parents who may feel that their children are moving toward a musical passion.
He says, “If parents feel that their child has an interest in music, then they should let them be exposed to different instruments. What I do here is try to expose students to what’s out there. I teach them a bit about reading music and about different songs and different composers, from back in the day to modern times.

“But ultimately, if the child decides that they want to play piano or guitar or drums, let them pursue that and take lessons. Let them try to take it seriously.

“I think it’s important not to force a child to play an instrument. They have to have an interest and a love. And they have to understand that maybe it’s not for them, or maybe it’s not for them now. They may lose interest, but they also may come back to it.

“That’s what happened to me for a little while. I sort of thought that I wasn’t going to be playing anymore. Where I was in my life, it just didn’t fit in, and I can’t believe I thought that at one time. Things come and go, but expose them to it. Take them to music stores. Let them bang on some drums and hit some pianos or pick up a guitar. Then have them take lessons and have them learn from a teacher who does that for a living.”

There also may be some exciting musical news to close out our exciting year at PS 39.  “There is a talent show in the works,” he says. “It is in the early stages of development. We’re shooting for the springtime. More information will be revealed, possibly a May date. That will give the children who do take lessons an opportunity.

“However, it doesn’t only have to be in music. I know some students pursue ballet. I even heard that there is a child here who is an amateur magician. It should be a nice, diverse show where kids who have the talent or who are working on pursuing some sort of craft can come and show what they’ve got.”

That will make us positively Glee-ful!  And we all thank Mr. Trust for keeping the music – and the inspiration -- alive every day!

-Ron Sklar- PS 39 Reporter At Large

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Mitchell and Jocelyn Baker in Rwanda

We always love to keep up with our PS 39 families, even when they’re halfway around the world.  Mitchell and Jocelyn Baker, the parents of Zoe and Winnie, are all currently living in Rwanda (far from Park Slope!).

Jocelyn is making the most of her nursing skills to help care for the people there. They plan to return to us in January 2012, but for now, we thought you might like to see how they’re doing.

The beautiful photos below were taken by Mitchell. The following is our interview with Jocelyn.

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Winnie watching a cow from a tree


Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Miami, Florida, but my husband grew up in Manhattan. I moved to the city in 2002 (when I was pregnant with Zoe) and haven't looked back since.  


Who do you have attending PS 39?

My older daughter, Zoe, age 8, has been attending PS 39 since she was in Pre-K with Miss Cassens. This year she was in third grade with Mrs. Taylor.

 When did you first become interested in nursing?

I have pretty much always worked in public health. I started out as a Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon in 1998 and from there moved on to work for various other non-profits, both overseas and in New York City. I often worked with African immigrants in the city as well. In 2004, I became interested in pursuing a more clinical path and finding a way to help people more directly. So I decided to return to school to become a nurse.

Our House
I had to take a lot of special pre-requisites like Anatomy and Physiology (learning all about how the body works - I loved it!) before I could start my program. I did the accelerated BSN program at Columbia University in 2006-2007 - the same year that Zoe was in Pre-K. It was a very busy year! 
Our street in the Umudugudu (village)
Do you have a specialty?
I have specialized in maternal and child health (i.e. mothers and babies). Having lived in Africa for many years, I saw that there was a real need in this area - especially around childbirth. We tend to take for granted in this country that having a baby will be a safe experience, but the reality is that almost half a million women die every year during childbirth. For that reason, I decided to specialize in maternity care and am currently working towards becoming a certified nurse midwife (a special type of advanced nurse that helps women deliver babies).

Zoe in Akagera park (note the baboon)
How did you become involved in working in Rwanda?

 In Rwanda, I work for an international organization called Partners in Health. I, like many people, first learned about PIH from a wonderful book about its' founder, Paul Farmer, called "Mountains Beyond Mountains". That book was about the work he started, building a clinic and
improving healthcare in rural Haiti.
Dr. Farmer believed that everyone has the right to good health and good healthcare - no matter if they are rich or poor, if they are black or white, urban or rural, or whether or not they live in a wealthy country. I, and many, many other people, have found his books and his work very inspiring and it is what brought me to work here in Rwanda.


What are your biggest challenges there? 

There are so many challenges here! In my work though, probably the biggest challenge is a lack of resources in the hospital and health centers - all the little things we take for granted in the US. Things like medicines, blood pressure cuffs, thermometers, scissors, even clean sheets. Oftentimes the nurses here just have to do without and figure out other ways to take care of people who are sick.
There are also definitely not enough nurses in this country (11 million people and only 6,000 nurses), which is one of the reasons that PIH brought me here  - to help train new and existing nurses so that they can give the best possible care to their patients.
In our personal life here too there are many challenges as well. Now that Zoe and the family are here with me, we have moved into a little house in the village (or, as they say here, umudugudu) next to the hospital. The house doesn't have running water and the electricity can be spotty. So that is definitely challenging!
Zoe reading under her mistnet, with her new kitten, Crookshanks, tucked under her arm.  Malaria is not very dense, but it is endemic here, so we have window screens and bednets for sleeping.




Do you see Rwanda's situation improving anytime soon? 
 Oh yes, definitely! Rwanda is an amazingly industrious country with a very strong leader who is determined to see his country become a shining star in Africa. In the capital of Kigali, there is so much construction going on. It is also very well organized, clean, and safe - one of the nicest big cities I've been to in this part of Africa. The Rwandan people as well are extremely hardworking and dedicated to improving their lives and their country.
Zoe and Winnie walking from our village


What do you miss most about home?
The food - definitely the food! Especially the food in New York! Bagels from La Bagel Delight and Dim Sum in Queens (and pizza, mmm, pizza...).

What do you miss about PS 39?
 

Oh there are so many things we love about PS 39! I would have to say though, that first and foremost is all the wonderful teachers! My mother was a teacher and so I know firsthand what a challenging job it is and what it takes to be really good. I feel so fortunate that Zoe has had the opportunity to be nurtured and taught by such a strong group of people. We, of course, also love the PS 39 community. We have all made so many good friends through the school and I know Zoe misses her classmates a ton!



When do you return? 

We will actually be back in the states this summer, but staying up at our farm in Ithaca, NY (all PS 39ers welcome!). Zoe, though, won't be back at PS 39 until the following winter - January 2012, when she will be able rejoin all of her classmates in the fourth grade. 
This is one of a small group of citrus swallowtail butterflies roosting in some grasses for a week.



African grey hornbill

There are a lot of bats that leave from the roof of one of the
PIH buildings each evening. This one got confused and roosted on an outer wall.


Antelope at Akagera


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By Ronald Sklar, PS 39 Reporter at Large