Students in Ms. Updike's eleventh grade American Literature course heard from guest speaker Zoe Beaton. Ms. Beaton educated the class about spirituals sung by enslaved people in conjunction with the class' recent reading of "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass." Zoe prepared material relating to her music education major at Westminster Choir College, where she is a junior, and answered student's questions, which included some of the following:
- How have your studies in music impacted your view on the social climate of America and other countries?
- Did your choir involvement start as a hobby or was it something you knew you wanted to pursue as a career?
- How has learning in choral conducting and musical studies affected your view on different spiritual songs?
- How did different slave songs resonate with different groups of slaves?
Beaton is majoring in Music Education and studying voice as her primary instrument. She believes that her interest in Music Education stems from growing up in the chorally rich state of Florida, in which her musicianship and artistry was developed and encouraged. Additionally, Zoe intends on applying for the Undergraduate Research Scholarship Awards (URSA) with a focus on the origins of Negro spirituals, their context and place in the choral music world, as well as appropriately performing and teaching Negro Spiritual music.
