CIM student-teachers help Cleveland School of the Arts students find their voices

If Cleveland School of the Arts teacher Robert McCorvey had one wish, it would be for a cloning machine.  

His first subject? Savanna Butcher (Schiller), the CIM voice student who visits his classes every week through an initiative funded by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation.  

Butcher, he said, one of several CIM student-teachers at CSA, significantly deepens his impact by providing what his public-school students need most, the one thing he himself can’t offer: private voice lessons.  

“Anytime someone can come in and give them time on a one-on-one basis, it’s a wonderful thing,” McCorvey explained. “I wish we could have her here every single day.”  

Butcher, of course, does her best.  

As a full-time master’s student, Butcher’s ability to spend 20 or 30 minutes with each of McCorvey’s singers is limited. Still, she typically manages to visit CSA twice a week, and thereby to see each of the school’s 50-plus choir participants two or three times a semester. Every year, CIM students spend up to 1,000 hours teaching at CSA.  

“I feel like I’ve built a pretty good rapport with them,” said Butcher. “Remembering all their names is tough, but I feel like I’m helping them think about themselves differently and believe that yes, they can do this.” 

Such would appear to be the case. In brief late-March lessons with two students, preparing for an end-of-semester recital, Butcher coaxed two relatively quiet singers out of their shells and made noticeable progress on matters of expression, phrasing and tone in an art song.  

The lessons may be short, but “Even a little individualized attention is really beneficial,” Butcher said.  

By working with Butcher, said Daniel Kennan, Jr., executive director of the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, CSA students “see this as attainable while developing an understanding of the mindset and commitment necessary to succeed.” 

McCorvey couldn’t agree more. After working with Butcher, he said, his students are more productive at home and audibly more confident and capable on stage, in both group and solo settings. They also look forward to her next lesson, to showing their CIM teacher artist what they’ve accomplished.  

“When she’s not here, the students ask for her,” McCorvey said.  

The high schoolers aren’t the only winners in CIM’s arrangement with CSA. Butcher, too, benefits, deriving both enjoyment and professional development from her time teaching.  

Some of the up-shots are obvious, she said: a nice line on her resume, extra income, a flexible work schedule.  

Others, though, have caught her by surprise, and may in fact be more valuable. Among them: making new friends and professional connections, witnessing student success, and gaining real-world skill as a teacher.  

All the way around, Butcher said, “It’s a quality experience, I would say.”