Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on April 8, 2021.

Sandra Smith has taught for the Floyd County Public School (FCPS) system since the fall of 1971. From kindergarten to high school, she teaches chorus and piano and, in some cases, has taught three generations of the same family.

Tenth-grader AJ Cantrell, one of Smith’s students since elementary school, recently dropped by her choir room classroom to go over the 2021 graduation music program and to update her on his YouTube music video channel. “I’m just a little proud,” Smith said with a smile after viewing one of Cantrell’s videos.

Cantrell, who is an all-state chorus winner, sings and plays piano at his home church, Slate Mountain Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and other churches. His parents, Laura and Travis, and his maternal grandfather, Joel Pratt, were also taught by Smith. Some original songs written and performed by Pratt, a retired FCPS art teacher, are included on Cantrell’s YouTube channel. Others were filmed and edited by Cantrell’s friend Elijah Underwood, who was part of the after-school visit with Smith.

Although Smith has taught in Floyd for fifty years, she’s been a teacher for even longer than that. She started taking piano lessons when she was five years old. She’s played in church since the 3^rd grade, performed in recitals and played at high school graduations during elementary school and beyond.

Growing up in Independence, Grayson County Smith had three piano teachers. After one was injured, one moved away and another died by the end of her 7^th grade, she was approached by parents who asked if she would take on their children as students.

“I thought ‘what I can give the students is better than nothing. If I don’t take them, they’d get nothing and something is better than nothing,’” she recalled. From the 8^th grade to college, Smith had about 35 piano students who she worked with after-school and on weekends. “I didn’t get into mischief because there was no time,” she joked.

As a girl, Smith thought she might want to be a nurse or a doctor, but by the time she was college age, she had decided on a music career. She graduated from Radford University with a master’s degree in Musicology. “I’ve not had a single regret,” she said about her choice.

Along with being a full-time music teacher, Smith organizes and directs music for Madrigal Dinners, Musicals and FCHS’s yearly Graduation. “I had never done a virtual choir before,” she said about last year’s ceremonies, describing how choir students video-taped their separate parts that were later edited together.

Due to COVID, last year’s graduation was an all-day affair, she said, with 10 students at a time walking across the stage to graduate, as family members watched from vehicles. This year’s format hasn’t been announced yet, but there will be a music program, Smith’s 49^th, whether virtual or, perhaps, performed outside.

Smith is a longtime member of the Floyd County Woman’s Club and has been the church organist and choir director at the Presbyterian Church of Floyd for the past 38 years.  Eleven years a widow, she finds musical inspiration in classical music and is currently the president of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival, which organizes and puts on concerts with Roanoke Symphony Orchestra’s maestro David Wiley Jr. The group also fundraises and awards scholarships to the county’s most promising young musicians. An upcoming VBRMF concert is scheduled to take place at the Floyd EcoVillage’s Event Center on June 27th (if state COVID guidelines allow).

Some of Smith’s past students have gone on to enjoy successful careers in music and most stay in touch with her. Several teach choral programs at neighboring high schools. Vickie (Poff) Sowers, a past student who assists Smith with Madrigal Dinners, Musicals and Graduation Ceremonies, teaches music in Carroll County. Michael Bower, another past student of Smith’s, conducts choirs and orchestras as Director of Music Ministry at the Cathedral of St. Agnes in Long Island, NY.

Smith loves her job and her musical involvements. She credits the quality of people she works with (including her students) as part of the reason. “If you love what you do and enjoy the people you work with, most days it doesn’t feel like work,” she said, although she admits some days teaching classes back-to-back have involved work.

Reflecting on her busy and fulfilling career, one that has spanned three generations, Smith has no plans for retirement any time soon, “but we know it will happen,” she said, adding, “I feel very, very blessed.”

______________Colleen Redman