Kings Highway Teacher is Making Music

Sarah L. Guterman has been teaching music classes in Westport schools since 1975, and has been at Kings Highway Elementary School for over 20 years. Anyone interested in experiencing the great talent of her fourth-grade students should attend their performance Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the school at 125 Post Rd. West.

Besides being one of the best music teachers around, say parents of children who attend Kings Highway and the students themselves, Guterman promotes her students by presenting plays and musicals throughout the year. She even adds scenes to bring out the talents of students, and she finds parts for anyone who is interested and even those who are not.

Guterman says she mostly enjoys plays based on classic children's books adapted for the stage. She says she looks for ones with a good message, so the student audience learns from the experience.

Rehearsals start in September, and choral practice is held once a week before the school day starts. But many students practice on other days before and after school and during recess.

This year's play was Chester, the Cricket, based on "The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden, which was performed January 14 and 27. There were two casts, with students playing different roles so the leads could be shared.

The program included the 85-member Kings Highway chorus, which is directed by Guterman and Barbara Maisonpierre. Barbara Harman was the accompanist.

Before coming to Kings Highway, Guterman taught at five other schools in the Westport system.

Guterman attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where she received a Bachelor's degree in Music Education and Elementary Education. She also holds a Masters degree in Special Education from Fairfield University, has studied Orff Schulwerk Levels I-III at the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria, and has attended a Master Class.

Orff Schulwerk is the teaching philosophy on which the Westport music curriculum is based. It's a child-centered approach that incorporates dance and creative movement, singing, speech, recorder playing and the use of pitched and unpitched percussion instruments.

Guterman's specialty is bringing children's literature together with this approach, and she gives presentations across the country on this topic.

Parent's are a huge help at Kings Highway, organizing costumes, sets, programs, publicity, supervision and much more.

This summer Guterman will teach a graduate course, Orff Schulwerk Level I.

When she's not at the beach or in her garden, Guterman, a West Haven resident, says she enjoys spending her free time with her pets, Emma, a mixed-breed rescue dog, and three cats, Tucker, a Tonkinese, and Chloe and Tabby, both tabbies.

"I love the magic of working with young children," she says. "No two days are the same, and every day holds surprises because of the imagination, energy and creativity inherent in young children. It is a gift to be able to share my love of music with my students."