©2026 Ohio Music Education Association
Sound Strategies
An Unbroken Circle
An Unbroken Circle
Robert J. Ward
Presented January 30, 2026 during the concert by the Ohio State University Men’s Glee Club.
American author Mark Twain said, “the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” This certainly applies to all humans, but it is especially true for teachers. The day we knew that our course was to teach—to plant seeds in a large forest with the belief and faith that those seeds would become strong plants with a solid root system.
Recently I had an encounter with a friend whom I had not seen since we graduated from college. She mentioned how impressed she was that I hold a faculty position at The Ohio State University. When I inquired about her teaching she remarked, “My career has not been glamorous like yours. I am still teaching kindergarten at the school where I began 33 years ago.” I instantly replied that my career was no more impressive than hers. “We are both career teachers,” I said, “and we are both public-school teachers. The only thing that separates us is the building in which we teach.”
As conductors of the Men’s Glee Club, Casey Cook, Zac DelMonte, and I depend on quality instruction at the high school level. Those high-school teachers depend on the junior high teachers—who depend on the middle school teachers—who depend on the elementary school teachers— who depend on the kindergarten teachers—who depend on the pre-school teachers. One level is not more important than the other. Each presents challenges and each has its own rewards.
I believe it was Zoltan Kodaly who said, “the best teachers belong with the youngest students.” Accepting that as a truism, then it is my friend who teaches kindergarten that has had the more impressive career. But to argue the point is a waste of time. The truth is we are on the same team, and we all have an opportunity to make a miracle in the building wherein we work. And let us all be reminded that the most important job we’ll ever have is the one we currently hold.
How to stay engaged and hopeful is an ever-present challenge. Year by year we are older and wiser, yet the students who enter our classrooms come in at the same age and seem to require more. Fortunately, our life experience, our professional experience, and organizations like OMEA and OCDA help us to know more, thereby empowering us to give more. In fact, by registering for this In-Service Conference we commit to these words: ‘May I never stop trying to become qualified for the job.’
The next time you are in Washington DC, I encourage you to visit the World-War II Memorial. Engraved there you will find a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt about her husband. To paraphrase, "Franklin's greatest lesson was that of infinite patience and never-ending persistence.” Those who everyday enter public-school classrooms can empathize with those words.
As we move through this spring semester, and as you prepare to sign contracts for the 26-27 academic year, I remind you of the conversation between Tom Hanks and Geena Davis in the movie, A League of Their Own.
Ms. Davis’s character (star catcher Dottie Hinson) decides not to continue with the team because in her words, “it just got too hard.” To which Tom Hanks (dysfunctional coach Jimmy Dugan) responds, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it weren’t hard everyone would do it. The ‘hard’ is what makes it great.”
Please accept this concert by the Men’s Glee Club as a gesture of thanks from The Ohio State University School of Music. For our pre-school to grade 12 colleagues, our jobs are possible because of the work you do every day. To our retired colleagues, we stand secure upon the foundation you built. And to the parents, thank you for encouraging your children to participate in music study.
To the leadership of OMEA, thank you for this invitation to perform. And to those in attendance, the Men’s Glee Club thanks you for the honor of your time.
Dr. Robert J. Ward currently serves as director of Choral Studies at The Ohio State University where he conducts the Men’s Glee Club and Chorale. He also teaches courses in conducting and choral literature. Prior to his appointment at Ohio State, Dr. Ward was for sixteen years a member of the music faculty at Oklahoma State University.