Oakland teacher named Maine ‘Choral Director of the Year’

OAKLAND — School districts feel honored when their teachers receives recognition for an important role in the education of students. RSU18 has, once again, found itself proud, this time over one of their veteran music teachers — Pamela Rhein — named “Maine Distinguished Choral Director of 2017” by the American Choral Directors Association.

Rhein began teaching music in the district in 1981, eventually teaching first and second grades at the Atwood School from 1990 until, in 1999, her husband, Kevin Rhein (recipient of the same award in 2012), requested her assistance with the district’s secondary choruses, which had swelled to more than 200 students in grades seven through 12.

Since that time, Mrs. Rhein, along with her colleague, Amy Peterson, has taken the fifth and sixth grade choruses to sing at area nursing homes twice a year to bring the gift of music to the residents, who deeply appreciate their visits. That gift works both ways, as her students learn the deep lessons discovered in sharing one’s talents with others. This is a community service reaching those with a profound need for personal interaction with young people.

Last year, she completed an immense project, recording all 400 students involved in the choral program — grades five through 12 — singing as individual groups as well as a complete ensemble. The CD, “Songs of Darkness and Hope,” has been signed by Affetto Records and hailed as a unique contribution to the choral arts.

Mrs. Rhein and her husband have raised three children since moving to Belgrade more than 35 years ago.