An avoidance of math led to a statewide honor.

An avoidance of math led to a statewide honor.
CORTLAND -- Jane Page's decision to major in music education after graduating from Liberty High School was as much about avoiding one thing as it was pursuing another.
"I thought I wouldn't have to take any math," quipped Page, who earned her bachelor's degree at Mount Union College and master's degree from Youngstown State.
"But, boy was I wrong."
The Ohio Music Education Association recently summed up Page's career by naming her the Outstanding Music Educator of the Year. Page, who has taught in the Lakeview School district for 30 years, was nominated for the award by Mathews High choral director and longtime friend, Martha Young.
The honor was bestowed on Page at the OMEA state conference in Cincinnati recently. In addition to promoting music education in her school and community, other criteria for the award included her commitment and dedication to her pupils, the amount of personal effort and time she spent going above and beyond the realm of her normal teaching duties.
Quotable
"Jane has had both my kids in class; my son is a senior at Lakeview and my daughter is now a music major at Youngstown State University," said Young. "She is just a great person and has done a phenomenal job with that program."
Page has been instrumental in the progression of the Lakeview music curriculum. When she started her career, only 20 pupils were in the program, she said. There are almost 10 times that many now - 108 in the high school concert choir, 30 in the Madrigal choir, 15 in the advanced women's ensemble and 50 in the eighth-grade choir at the middle school, where she also teaches.
One thing Page does not do is sing her own praises. She insists that it is not the awards that drive her, but rather her pupils. The fact that at least 18 of her former pupils are currently either music educators, pursuing their music degree or are performers means more to Page than any plaque or certificate. Without children of her own, Page said the pupils at Lakeview are her kids.
"I love knowing that I helped them to get started on their careers," she said. "They are now spreading what I call the gospel of music. I've never been about awards. I do what I do because I love to do it. It was really an honor to be named and I appreciate all the nice things people have said about me, but I was really surprised by it."
Page, who lives in Girard, teaches music theory at Lakeview High and, in addition to organizing the school's fall, winter and spring concerts and solo and ensemble contests, also produces the annual Madrigal dinner.
Service to church
Outside of her school commitments, Page acts as the music director at Church Hill United Methodist Church in Liberty and sings with the Wade Raridon Singers -- a group of former members of the Youngstown State Dana Madrigal Singers and Dana Chorale, directed by retired music professor Dr. Wade Raridon.
The Madrigal dinner is one of Page's favorite events. She said it is a unique Renaissance-style experience that runs for three nights in December and has more than 200 people attend each performance.
"It's like a boar's head feast," Page said. "We all wear costumes, serve a meal and serenade the diners. There's brass music, a jester and even a juggler. It's quite a big production, and everyone loves it."
It is not as if Page always knew she would be a choir director. She said no one in her family was musically inclined, but her grandmother bought her a piano when she was 12, and for years thought the piano was her future.
"I always wanted to play the piano, and I really thought I'd go to college and be a piano player," said Page. "My sisters did horses, I played the piano. But I had great choir directors in college, and the calling came for me to be a choir director, too. Music is just part of who I am."
Thirty years after the pursuit of her career began, Page is still avoiding something, but it is no longer math.
"I'm not ready to retire," she said. "An older teacher said that you'll know when you're ready, and I'm not."