When preparing a group of musicians for a concert there are important things that must be done such as making sure all the music is prepared and that everyone has their instruments ready. Some nights, concerts can be very stressful and scary for some students.

Steve Olson, the CMR orchestra teacher, took note of this and created a fun way in helping his students prepare for concerts. His “fun way” was a running relay.

“I started it as a way of getting the kids sort of in a heightened state of emotional and physical stress. Which is what we kind of go through when we get nervous in preparation for a concert,” Olson said.

Olson has been doing these relays for about three years and says that they really do work when helping kids prepare for concerts.

“Getting the blood and all the adrenaline going really helps the brain start focusing rather than just being in the state of chilling out in your chair. It really helps get people thinking and usually after they come back running, they can play much better, which is good,” Olson said.

Emily Rogers, a seven-year violinist and one of Olson’s former students, agrees that these relays really do help, not only for her, but for her whole class.

“He’ll have us set our instruments down…and he’s very specific about walking around the cellos. We [then] leave the classroom and we enter the breezeway,” Rogers said. “Along the side of the building, we have to run down to the very end of the sidewalk and turn around and run back to the classroom. It’s kind of like his fun way of preparing us for concerts.”

Rogers and Olson both said they enjoy having these relays and can’t wait for the next time they can run.

“We’re all in this together no matter your pace. From the bottom of my heart I enjoy doing this because it brings us closer as an orchestra,” Rogers said.

When asked, Olson said he has every intention of continuing the tradition.

“Heck yeah. I like incorporating a lot of different things to not only get their brains working but to [also] change things up.”