CWU Music faculty, students find harmony with annual SLYM camp

The sounds of music and merriment filled the McIntyre Music Building in mid-June when the Central Washington University Department of Music hosted the fourth annual Summer Literacy for Youth in Music (SLYM) Camp.

Music Education Professor Dr. James Reddan, Senior Lecturer of Viola Dr. Michelle Rahn, and three student teachers — Meredith Montgomery, Fernando Flores, and Kristina Svistunov — partnered with seven other CWU music students to mentor 35 aspiring musicians from first grade through high school.

The goal of the camp, co-sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Yakima and FISH Food Bank, is to teach music literacy, chamber music, music history, and song writing to kids of all ages and ability levels — many from migrant farmworker families.

SLYM started in 2023 when Dr. Yerin Kim, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Studies and a Professor of Piano, secured the funding to launch a camp as a way of teaching music literacy to migrant children.

According to Montgomery, who just completed her third year as a SLYM instructor, the camp keeps getting better every year.

“The first year I did it, we were flying by the seat of our pants, and the second year, we started to understand more what we were trying to do,” said Montgomery, a triple bachelor’s degree recipient in 2026. “That’s why I wanted to return for a third year, because it is only getting better. Just seeing that encouraging attitude from all the instructors and knowing that we all wanted to make this the most successful year yet — that’s what I will remember.”

Other key contributors to this year’s SLYM camps were Professor of Tuba and Euphonium David McLemore, Administrative Assistant Tyler White, and student instructors Lou Pearson, Jaeden Tellvik, Audrey Robinson, Julianna Peral De Jesus, Katelyn Confer, Theo Lewis, and Wyatt Webberley.

Montgomery said the camp is equipped to handle up to 60 students, and organizers hope to boost turnout next year. But having some extra chairs just meant more one-on-one time for the students and instructors.

“Something we discuss with them all the time is how neat it is for them to be able to access all of these spaces when no students are around,” she said. “They get to use the practice rooms and the concert halls, which lets them experience that feeling of what it’s like to be a music student at Central. I think that is one of the biggest takeaways for a lot of these kids.”

The highlight was the June 18 final performance in the Hertz Concert Hall, where the campers’ families gathered to witness everything the kids had learned over the past two weeks. The parents were highly complimentary of the instruction the campers had received.

“After the final concert, there were a lot of parents who told us, ‘My child had so much fun!’” Montgomery said. “Especially some of the older kids, who were able to have some one-on-one with me or the other head instructors on the chamber music side. They don’t get that chamber aspect from their individual lessons, and their parents were saying how much that added to their experience.”

Reddan, who took over the camp co-director role from Kim this year, saw firsthand the progress each of the campers made in a short amount of time, crediting the CWU student instructors for their commitment and leadership.

He noted that the camp doesn’t just benefit the youth musicians it serves; it’s also an opportunity for CWU students to grow as educators.

“It acts as an educational program for both the youth and our students,” he said. “This was definitely the best one yet, and it just keeps improving. We heard from a lot of parents who said, ‘Don’t stop doing it. Keep it going.’”

Reddan believes the main reason SLYM resonates so positively with the campers and their parents is that the entire experience is student-centered.

“It's all about the students, and it's all process-focused,” he said. “When we train our music education students, if the process is good, then the product is going to turn out the way you want it. Learning how to practice, rehearse, and perform from instructors who have gone through the process themselves gives these young musicians tremendous confidence as they continue learning.”

Reddan and Montgomery thanked the Catholic Diocese of Yakima for recruiting students and providing the funding to operate the camp, as well as FISH Food Bank in Ellensburg for donating breakfast, lunch, and snacks for all nine days.

That community support allows the Department of Music to keep the cost of the camp low — and, hopefully, continue growing the program in the future.

“For just a few hundred dollars, students get access to all the equipment, all the instruction, and all the materials CWU has,” Reddan said. “It also covers food, group activities, and instruments. It’s a pretty good deal, and we hope to see even more people take advantage of it next year.”