Leaving on a high note
By Michael Johnson, Editor
Band and choir students from kindergarten through sixth grade performed multiple songs and two different productions during the Elementary Spring Concert, April 30. Each piece was drawn out, choreographed and rehearsed by the careful hand of Charlene Snustad. Snustad has put together over 70 productions since she has been instructing. Very few have been repeats and most are well attended. Working with so many students isn’t a skill learned over-night and it’s a wonder one person can handle seeing every elementary class, every day of school and not pull out her hair. But Snustad does it with a full head of hair. "You just have to get them excited about their own sound," Snustad said. She learned a lot about teaching instrumentals and vocals while in college. She also learned a lot about drama, as she was just a few hours short of earning a degree in it. But what she didn’t learn, what can’t be taught, is how to say goodbye to her students after 21 years of teaching in Washburn. Snustad will be leaving the place she knows so well to work at North Border Public School in Pembina. The school is a little smaller than Washburn School but will allow Snustad and her husband to work near each other. Her husband recently got a job as a music teacher in Cavalier. The move will also bring her closer to her home town.
