Clearlake >> When Cydney Dixon’s older brother was preparing to leave home for a couple years — a fact that Dixon, 10 years his junior, was not happy about — she decided to get back at him by trading in his trumpet for a clarinet from the local music store. Her mother was out of town, and her father was just going along with it. She even called the music store about the whole thing, but just in the nick of time, Dixon’s mom learned of her revenge plot. She told her daughter that when she returned home, they would buy her a clarinet. She couldn’t sell her brother’s trumpet, though.
There is, of course, a little bit more to the story than that. Dixon didn’t pick up the clarinet out of the blue. Her grandfather, a professional saxophone and clarinet player, had always hoped one of his children would follow in his footsteps. But none had, and so Dixon decided that she would. Her wish to convey her displeasure at her brother’s departure was just the push she needed to learn to play.
From that point on, Dixon was immersed in a world of music. In fourth grade she was required to learned the violin — she readily admitted she was pretty terrible at it — and music was always part of the curriculum after that. She attended California State University Long Beach, where she studied music. While in college, her program gave her two choices: focus on entertainment or focus on education.
With an older sister who worked as an elementary school teacher, teaching had always been on Dixon’s mind. She was also acutely aware of the precarious state of education in California, what with the passage of Proposition 13, which reduced property taxes that were used to fund schools. She feared music curriculum was in trouble.
“I feel like music is the heart of education,” Dixon said.
When kids study music, they’re not just playing instruments. They’re learning about themselves, and honing in on their passions. Through the arts, students can learn a myriad of other subjects, from reading to counting to history. Plus, Dixon pointed out that music is the only subject to engage both sides of the brain.
“There’s just so much kids can be taught through music,” she said. “We’re teaching life, we’re teaching who they are.”
Studies have shown, she added, that kids who excel in the arts are more likely to stay away from drugs and alcohol, attend college, and even enter the medical field. They’ll one day be our doctors and nurses.
This isn’t to mention that music and singing, dancing and drawing and performance, these will be what’s left of us when we’re gone. “When people discover what our generation is about, when people discover what we are, what we leave behind is the arts,” Dixon said. “That’s how they learn about what we did, who we are as people.”
Dixon started her teaching career at Terrace Middle School 34 years ago, where she worked as a long-term English substitute teacher. After eventually going back to school to obtain a student teaching credential, Dixon was hired as a music teacher for Middletown Unified School District. There she stayed for seven years. Then her husband accepted a job in Butte County as a principal, and their family moved to Paradise.
But Dixon couldn’t seem to stay away. Ten years ago she was enticed to return to Lake County, and became Lower Lake High School’s music teacher. Two years ago, she made the jump up the highway to Clearlake and the Konocti Education Center.
It wasn’t just any old teaching position she accepted at the Konocti Education Center. No, Dixon’s job required building an entirely new music program from the ground up. A few students came with her from Lower Lake High School, but for the most part, Dixon recruited a band of beginners.
But though the program is young, consisting mostly of seventh and eighth graders, it’s bursting with talent. Next week, Dixon will be taking her band and choir students to Disneyland, where they’ll perform with professional Disney musicians and take part in studio sessions. It’ll be the fifth group Dixon has taken down to Southern California for the opportunity.
The first time they scored the chance, it was admittedly unexpected. Dixon’s students wanted to submit their music for consideration, but Dixon told them, point blank, there was no way they were going to perform with the Disney musicians. The program was only two years old, she pointed out. But they insisted.
Dixon was surprised but overwhelmed with pride when she received the phone call from Disney, the voice over the line saying that her students were impressive, and that they were invited to come down south.
“I love when they can tell me, ‘I told you so,’” she said.
But this will be the last time Dixon accompanies her students to Southern California. After 34 years in education, it’s time for her to retire. This past Wednesday was her final band concert. Dixon was holding back tears throughout the performance, but when students lined up to present her with flowers, she couldn’t contain herself any longer. She lost it.
As her date of retirement draws near, she’s been reflecting on the past three decades. There have been many memorable moments, but Dixon recalled one in particular. Her students were performing three songs at a music festival, and after the first song, she caught the hushed tones of self-congratulations coming from her students. After the second song, the quiet cheers got a little louder, and at the end of the third song, they all whooped, “Yeah baby!”
To this day, Dixon remembers that performance clearly. Those are her favorite moments, when she doesn’t have to tell her students how well they played — they just know. “I love the sparkle in the kids’ eyes when they have that wonderful magical performance,” Dixon said.
Those moments don’t just leave an impact on Dixon — they also have a lasting effect on her students. Years later, after that performance at the music festival, she called a few up, now grown with children of their own, and they remembered that day. Some students will send her letters, informing her that they’re still engaged in music. It’s the most satisfying feeling, knowing she lit that spark, she ignited that passion.
Although she’ll miss it, Dixon is ready for retirement. She’s planning to get back to Paradise, and spend time with her children and her four-year-old granddaughter, who’s already banging away at the piano. It seems she’s well on her way to following in Dixon’s footsteps.
But as these things tend to go, Dixon doubts she’ll stay away from education for long. “A huge part of my life has been in Lake County,” she said. “I’m sure somehow I’ll get dragged back in. I’m already hearing the things I’ll be volunteered for,” she added, laughing.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
