Being part of a community she cares deeply for and spreading her love for music, one local teacher says she is in the perfect place to do what she loves the most.
Gail Murphy grew up in Chappaqua in Westchester County, a place she recalls as a little on the fancy side. “My mother would host cocktail and dinner parties often,” said Murphy.
While in high school Murphy’s family moved to Montrose, Pa. “This was much more my style,” she explains. “It was much smaller than where we lived before and although it wasn’t the country, it had a country feel to it.”
Being one of eight children isn’t as scary as it might sound, Murphy says. “Everyone says being the middle child is the worst. When you’re young that may be true, but as you get older I find it is the best spot too,” said Murphy. “I find that I am just as close to the oldest as I am to the youngest.”
Throughout her childhood and for as long as Murphy can remember, she has had a love for music. In 1975 before venturing off to college, Gail found herself moving with her parents to Earlville and this is when she first explored Norwich. She says she liked the area and got her own place while she worked at the emergency center that was housed at the fire department.
In time Murphy ventured off to the Crane School of Music at Potsdam where she double majored in theater and music and then came back to the Norwich area and took a position as a permanent substitute at Stanford J. Gibson school in the music room. “This is where I fell in love,” said Murphy as she laughs and reflects that, at that moment, she knew she loved teaching at Gibson. “I got hooked,” she said.
Substituting came to an end and Murphy set out for Michigan where she attended graduate school and earned a dual masters in theater and music. Her education complete, Gail says she prayed every day for direction. Direction came at the end of one week with a phone call from administrators at Gibson school in Norwich. “They remembered me from years before when I substituted for them,” said Murphy. She dropped everything and headed back to Upstate New York, had the interview and took the position.
Now 20 years later, Murphy has the same classroom and has taught thousands of students over the years. She’s had a hand in many of the school plays and is continuously active with the field band as pit director. She is also president of the Chenango Community Players, she is on the site-based team for the high school, she sings, performs on stage and plays many instruments. “I absolutely love it here,” she says. “Coming here was the best decision I ever made,”
Murphy and her daughter Megan, of whom she is very proud, currently live in Oxford. “I am hoping to find a place to buy in Norwich very soon,” she said.
The greatest thing about the work Gail does, she explains, is getting to teach the children to appreciate and find a love for music. “I love the kids. We laugh a lot and that’s what keeps me young,” she said.
Editor’s Note: “Chenango Stories” puts the spotlight on those people whose compelling stories you might not otherwise hear. If you know someone who is interested in telling their “Chenango Story,” contact Jill Kraft at 337-3075 or e-mail: jkraft@evesun.com.