Transcending Barriers Through Athletics and the Arts

LOGAN — The Youth Conservatory at Utah State University is partnered with Athletics United, a local nonprofit organization that builds community through sport.

“The Youth Conservatory is a program where students from all over Cache Valley can sign up to take piano lessons and group music classes from the USU piano majors and graduate students,” YC Director Emily Ezola said. “It's a teaching lab for the students here who are earning their degrees in piano performance and pedagogy.”

Ezola also said the YC provides the opportunity for kids to interact with music majors at USU, take piano lessons, and participate in events such as monthly recitals.

Athletics United started in 2017 as a way to bring the community together in Logan, specifically reaching out to refugee communities, according to Executive Director Mike Spence.

Spence used to coach track and field at USU and transferred his passion for athletics to the pursuit of this nonprofit organization.

In the beginning stages, Athletics United started out as a running club — a way to start conversations in a comfortable and casual setting among community members. They now offer free access to various activities for new American families.

“Our club is open to everyone,” Spence said. “First of all, we have families that have lived here for generations and families that have come as new American families, as refugees or by other means.”

Spence said more than half the kids who participate in Athletics United are refugees or children of refugees from all around the world.

“A lot of our refugees currently are from Central and East Africa, but we're seeing more and more refugees now from Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine,” he said.

The partnership between the YC and Athletics United encourages students from the Athletics United program to participate in a three-class program hosted by the YC.

“This class is taught by practicum students who are teachers in the youth conservatory, and we do our very best to make it a really positive experience and give them as much exposure as we can during the three group classes that we get to have with them,” Ezola said.

Last November was the first year the YC hosted these classes for students in Athletics United. They have recently completed this year’s three classes.

“We do an icebreaker for the first 15 minutes, musical chairs and things like that — just kind of get them comfortable with the environment — and then after that, we talk about more specific musical concepts,” said USU piano student and YC teacher Valerie McGeean.

McGeean said they most recently taught their students about classical music history. They talked about Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart.

“We then took them to the keyboard lab where they were able to experience playing the piano. It was really cool because we talked about high and low sounds and the groupings of the keys, and then they were able to improvise their own song on the black keys,” McGeean said. “It was really cool to see their personalities come out in their playing.”

Ezola said these students appear to be “hungry for more knowledge.” She said they have an insatiable appetite when it comes to the learning and the exposure of music, and they also demonstrate an incredible work ethic.

She said these classes are an amazing opportunity for the USU students to interact with younger students who have so much to offer and who feel excited about being on campus.

“Many of them have never had a chance to even play piano, so I feel like you're dealing with a really unique type of enthusiasm,” Ezola said, “and I also feel like the college students really feel like they are making a direct impact on helping others feel better.”

According to USU piano student and YC teacher Miranda Judson, this collaboration is a great opportunity for both USU students and students in the community to get together and be more involved.

According to Spence, participating in athletics and the arts are two ways everyone can manage their personal, emotional and psychological health.

“Both of those, athletics and the arts, I see as pursuits that transcend any language barriers or cultural barriers,” Spence said. “It's such an easy thing to form a community around.”

Similarly, Spence said music and athletics can be important tools as youth navigate certain adjustments in their lives.

“Especially when a child is coming from a background that may have had trauma, or even without trauma, or just trying to adjust to a new culture and new society,” he said.

Ezola said learning a skill like piano helps build confidence in the students.

“I think that playing music is also an amazing outlet,” she said. “Any type of stress or anxiety can sort of melt away as we learn and engage with an instrument.”

Ezola said she hopes this partnership between the YC and the Athletics United students/families continues forever.

“We try to have a tuition model that makes it accessible for most families and then do our very best to provide scholarships for those who have that need,” Ezola said.

She continued to say they do everything they can to provide scholarships for students so they have the chance to continue taking lessons without the barrier of tuition.

“The first time we did this was just last year, and in that amount of time it was pretty easy to identify the students that were really excited about the piano and wanted to continue,” she said, “so we were able to scholarship one of those students who is still part of the youth conservatory on scholarship.”

Judson, the teacher of this student on scholarship, said this student has been really energetic and very involved in the YC.

“They're very excited to be able to play, which is really nice as a teacher, and they've learned a lot of music this year,” she said.

According to Spence, his positive experience with the YC has encouraged him to find this opportunity for the kids he works with to be involved with the program.

He said he sees these programs as a way to bring young people together, “especially young people on campus at Utah State with young people who are members of the refugee community.”

“I really think it's important that people in the Utah State community know how diverse our community here in Cache Valley actually is,” Spence said. “It's easy to start to think of it as a homogenous community, and it's really quite diverse and changing, becoming more so all the time. We have quite a few refugees who have arrived from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Syria over the past year.”

Spence also said Logan is one of the only places in the state of Utah that can accept refugees directly from other countries. He said the diversity in our community is only going to increase, which is why it’s so important that we have engagement and people willing to embrace that diversity.

“The university is such an important part of the vibrant community of Logan — it wouldn't be Logan without Utah State,” he said.

He added that the more we can have USU involved with the community, the more kids will feel inspired to be a part of everything it has to offer, and the whole community will be lifted as a result.