Orchard Lake — St. Mary’s Preparatory in Orchard Lake is making strides to more fully embrace its Polish heritage with two recent developments this school year.

In fall 2014, St. Mary’s began offering a Polish-language class for the first time in many years, and next month, the St. Mary’s band will travel to Poland for an international jazz festival, which includes performing with the Polish National School of Music.

“We’re pleased that we could bring Polish back; it’s an important part of our history and heritage at St. Mary’s,” said Cormac Lynn, headmaster of the school. “And we’re excited our kids have the opportunity to go to Poland to perform.”

 



Playing for Poland

Josh James, who is in his 10th year as music director at St. Mary’s, said the department is “pretty large” today. In recent years, the school has expanded to offer music appreciation and music technology courses, James said, among others in the program.

The school also has a very active jazz ensemble, said James, who in addition to being a music educator is also a professional musician, playing in several groups and tours.

“I always try to get the students out in the community because the best (music) education is making music for others,” he said.

James said he had always wanted take the students on an international music tour, and after recently discussing the idea with Marcin Chumiecki, director of The Polish Mission at Orchard Lake, he realized it would be “a great opportunity” to take the students to Poland.

Chumiecki gave James a list of music festivals taking place in Poland this semester, and James noted the 17th annual LOTOS Jazz Festival, held in the Beskid region of Poland in February. There, international jazz musicians connect and perform, including American artists.

James connected with the head of the festival, who admitted they’d never had student performers, “but was intrigued,” James said. Eventually, organizers said they would love to have the St. Mary’s students perform as part of the festival.

A local Polish music school is located in the same area, James also learned, sparking the idea to connect with them and learn from each other.

“Though we might speak different languages, we do have this connection and we’re going to make this music together and learn things,” James said.

Of the St. Mary’s band members who plan to attend, several are international students themselves, from Korea and China, James said.

“The international students are absolutely thrilled to be able to go on this trip,” he said.

James said he looks forward to the American students now having the opportunity “to function as global citizens,” he said, “not confined to this campus. There’s a world outside of St. Mary’s, there’s a world outside of Michigan, there’s a world outside of the United States.”
“It’s going to be a beautiful thing,” he said.

 

Language returns

Marzanna Owinski, the Polish language instructor at St. Mary’s, says, “for me, Polish is not only a language but also art, music, movies, culture, history – everything.”

Owinski has only 13 students in her current Polish class, but she hopes the numbers will grow. This is, after all, the first year of offering Polish in a very long time.

“I don’t have any complaints, my students are very good,” Owinski said. “They complain that it’s hard, especially with pronunciation because of conjugation, and the grammar’s complication, but I have to say, they are doing very well.”

Owinski said she thinks her students are enjoying the class “because this was their choice. They wanted to learn the language.”

Owinski, who is originally from Poland, said the American perception of Poland is different from actual Poland: “Poland doesn’t look like ‘Poland in Hamtramck,’” she said, adding that Poland itself has changed since she left 17 years ago.

“What I’m trying to show (my students) is not only teach them the language, but also show them culture and change in a different country,” she said.

Citing Orchard Lake’s “very deep Polish roots,” Owinski said she thinks this class is important.

“For me, the important things are education, faith and tradition,” she said. “This is what I think Polish culture is. We’ve become a modern country, but are still very traditional and faithful people.”

Owinski likes to take her students to experience Polish art and other activities, so they are not just learning a language, but a culture.

“It’s important because we’re all Americans here, but everything is from somewhere,” she said. “We cannot disconnect from our history, our roots.”