Mila Talati: Let's start, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
April Montgomery: I’m April, and I’m a member of the Junior League of Summit, which is how I met and got to know Ms. Krska. She and I have known each other for over two years now. I was really excited to hear about all the good work she was doing through Keys 2 Success, and when my schedule worked out appropriately, I was able to dive in and start volunteering on a weekly basis, and I’ve been doing that now for quite a while, and it's been a really, really fun opportunity for me to use my rudimentary, but existent, music skills. But also, it's been an outlet for some creativity for me as well, and then just the connection with the kids has been fantastic. I have a culinary degree and was a chef for a while. I have since moved into the business sector. I have worked with a series of food and drink start-ups. I love to talk to the kids about the foods that they like and be able to diversify our conversations a little bit, kind of bringing in that part of my experience and getting to know them. So those are kind of my favorite things to do whenever I’m volunteering with Keys.
MT: Did you feel that it was difficult to establish a personal connection with the children or was it more difficult to keep things professional?
AM: I think I fit somewhere in the middle. There were some kids for whom I immediately felt love, and want to do everything I could to make their experiences feel as pleasant as possible and make them feel welcome and successful, powerful, and all of those things. And there were others where it took more work to bridge that gap and get to know them a little better. I think it's really important to understand a little bit about each of the kids as you're working with them. It helps you tailor the way you speak with them, it helps you to understand what their challenges might be.
MT: Is there anything challenging about working with Keys?
AM: I don't play piano, and that's a really big challenge for me. So while I can read music, I can't pick up a piece of piano sheet music and just start tinkling away at the piano with it. So that’s been a major challenge because I have such a desire to do so. But beyond that, there are tons of options for me to contribute and to work with the kids in a variety of different ways.
MT: Did you have access to arts education growing up? How do you think that affected your life or the path you ended up going down?
AM: I am very fortunate to have had a wonderful arts education. I found an immediate love for playing violin and really enjoyed that experience. It was certainly a very important part of my life once I got to be in high school. It was something that I spent a lot of time doing. And I think that while I didn't choose to pursue music after I graduated high school, it's been something that's been in my life ever since. I have been lead of the Symphony Club, I have been a big fan and big supporter of local arts programs, I try to enjoy as much theater as I can. I love taking people to the theater for the first time and getting to share that with them. So I definitely think that having a strong arts education allowed me to embrace and enjoy arts as an adult in a different way than I would have had I not had a musical background. I think that the study and perseverance and the grit that it takes to learn an instrument, and to learn with others, the collaboration that goes into between you and your instructor, conductor, teacher, or what have you, I think is really important as a set of life skills. I think that being required to practice, while it sucks while you're doing it, is something that prepares you for so many aspects of professional life in the future, and that's super critical. I think it's difficult sometimes for kids to see the connection between the act of practicing and the act of learning an instrument, and how that will enable them to grow their skills as an adult, and that it's super important. So the best we can do in the meantime is just make it fun.
MT: Now that you’ve journeyed with Keys 2 Success for some time, what has it been like seeing the kids grow up and develop musically?
AM: It’s been wonderful to watch them grow. Just in the two school years, it's so fun to see the kids have grown so much. I had helped out with singular events here and there prior to when I started volunteering all the time. It's been fun to peek back in on the kids that I met a few years ago instead of last year. And it's so fun to listen to Ms. Krska talk about the way that she’s watched the kids grow and the influence she’s played in their lives. It's been very inspiring. So while I don’t know if I've had any impact in people’s lives, it certainly feels like I am able to based on the inspiration that's drawn from her. It's really wonderful to see the kids as they explore new hobbies and passions over time. I think that's part of growing, the new things that are out there. It’s really fun for me to see the kids come in and be excited about a new thing; that joy is infectious. I think that it's difficult sometimes when I only see them once a week, and not consistently every week because school’s out, the location isn’t open that day, or I’m traveling or whatever. But seeing them as often as I do enables me to build a real understanding of some of the kids, so it's fun to see that change.
MT: What is your favorite memory at Keys 2 Success?
AM: I think one of my favorite memories, it has nothing to do with me, but it was very impactful for me. The first time where I was at one of the locations where Dr. Heard came to starting teach step at that location. The kids were so excited about it; she has such a presence. And seeing the kids interact with her in that first session was really something special. You just don’t see it that often, that instant connection between ‘I have something and I want to share it’ and kids actively wanting to learn that. Really neat.
MT: What are your biggest takeaways from your time with Keys?
AM: I think one of the big ones is this idea that there is so much more just right outside our doorstep. It's really wonderful to take our expertise, experience, and our desire to help to the Newark community, and then conversely, to bring the Newark community into our community. I think that the power of that is indescribable. I think that's been a big takeaway, getting people outside their comfort zone, whether that's bringing kids here, or going to them there, that cannot be understated as an absolute critical part of the experience for all of us. I think that exposure is just really key. So allowing kids to be exposed to different experiences, that they can have new learning opportunities by just being exposed to different people and their experiences. I think that it's really easy for some to say, 'Oh, this is just charity work', but that's not at all what it is. It's about building connections, and strengthening bonds, and allowing kids to see something outside of their day-to-day, through enabling them to have access to music. I think that what Ms. Krska has done is so, so important, creating access.
MT: What is your favorite part of Keys 2 Success?
AM: I love the end of the concerts, how excited the kids are, how proud of themselves they are. I love that! That is one of my favorite parts, that sense of accomplishment. To have your friends and family applaud your performance, that's so special, and they love that. And I think that sense of accomplishment is so fun to watch. I think during COVID one of the things we did, Keys did the virtual concert. So they would hold the Zoom concerts at like 4 o’clock in the afternoon, they did a couple of them. And that was so fun for me because I could take a break from work, go and sit somewhere different in my apartment during lockdown, and listen to these kids just absolutely kill it with the music they were playing. I adored that, and am looking forward to more zoom concerts in the future. Some of. thekids are simply succeeding because they are learning, and some of the kids are learning because they are succeeding.
MT: Is there anything you want to add, ending remarks, about Keys?
AM: It's been really fun to see Keys evolve over the last couple of years. I think that organization itself is really incredible in the way that Ms. Krska has been able to take it in so many different directions and bringing in so many different people.
Mila Talati is a highschool intern at Keys 2 Success. A sophomore at the Academy for Information Technology for the 2022- 2023 school year, she does media for Keys 2 Success and loves working with the kids. Outside of school, she participates in many music classes, teaches and performs Indian dance, and loves to read and travel.
