STLCC Meramec Choir Adjusts to COVID in Unexpected Ways Barak Alder news editor emeritus COVID-19 has changed college life, especially for students who continue attending in-person classes. Students of the STLCC Meramec concert choir, who previously had their class unrestricted by CDC guidelines, began facing unfamiliar public safety precautions, such as mandates that they wear masks at all times while oncampus, mandates that they sing no less than 10 feet apart, and mandates that they practice for no more than 30 minutes at a time. These safety precautions posed technical challenges for the singers as well, said Dr. Gerald C. Myers, the Director of Choral Activities at STLCC Meramec. “It was challenging, especially the choir rehearsals early in the semester,” he said, adding “I’d say [for] the first few weeks, everyone was a little frustrated.” For one, masks challenged singers’ diction, since it muffled their voices. However, to help remedy this issue, STLCC
eventually purchased what are called singers’ masks, which according to Myers, “fit around the face and down the chin more than a typical mask” and “protrude away from the lips.” Social distancing also prevented timid singers from building up their confidence as easily, said Myers. “Young singers are typically timid anyway. But when normally in a rehearsal I would discover a new singer timid, I would put strong singers around that person…and that would encourage that more timid singer to sing out....But I can’t do that when I have to keep singers 10 feet apart,” he said. The time restraint, limiting rehearsals to 30 minutes at a time, also prevented the group from learning as many pieces as they normally would, he said. “We just had to accept in the beginning that we’re not going to learn 12 pieces for a concert, when we’re only rehearsing a half hour at a time, two days a week,” said Myers. Yet, students have generally handled these changes well, he said. “Students have been very resilient,” and “they really adjusted
well and overcame the challenges.” Myers, in fact, suggested that these mandates, like mask requirements, have somewhat helped his singers develop their technique. “I have taught for many, many years... having singers imagine if they had something covering their mouth, and so instead of thinking about singing out through the mouth, you would imagine singing over this, into what we call the singers mask, the eyes and the nasal cavity...where you resonate sound. So I told the choir...let’s take advantage of this mask. Now, I want you to imagine singing over it...and I did find that they developed that resonance quicker this semester than ever before,” he said. In spite of the positives, the experience has still been far from ideal, said Myers. “In conversations with other directors, I haven’t yet found anyone who has really adjusted or wanted to adjust to this. It’s just doing our best with this for as long as we have to.”
STLCC approved for Bachelor's Degree CBHE approves the college to offer bachelor’s degrees in respiratory therapy jacob politte online editor On Mar. 3, STLCC was given approval by the Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education (CBHE) to offer bachelor’s degrees in respiratory therapy beginning in the fall 2022 semester. The approval makes STLCC the first community college in the state of Missouri to offer a bachelor degree in any subject. Currently, the college does offer an associates degree for respiratory therapy.
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In a press release sent out by the college earlier this month, it is stressed by Chancellor Jeff Pittman that “This is the first step in a multi-tiered process that includes approval from the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care and the Higher Learning Commission.” According to STLCC’s news website, the college’s respiratory therapy programs must now seek approval from the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) and the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
The bachelor’s programs will be offered at the Center for Nursing and Health Sciences at STLCC-Forest Park or the STLCC-Florissant Valley campus. The demand for respiratory therapists is expected to grow by nearly 28% by the year 2026, according to studies done by the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center. Ozarks Technical Community College, an institution based out of Springfield, MO, was also approved to offer the bachelor’s degree.
