Students are even assigned homework. But the grand piano sprawled in a corner makes all the difference between this and school. Ashley Smetherman, a part-time music instructor who is finishing a master's degree in voice at Tulane university, is the schoolmarm. Though she is infinitely patient with the children, some classes are more constructive than others. No, but I came from one.
Attention immediately is diverted from the blackboard to the straw hat.
The girls take turns wearing it and giggling and that seems to calm them for the time being. Later Smetherman plays two notes on the piano then asks the children to tell her the interval. This is hard. So one mischievous student creeps out of her seat and inches toward the piano, trying to peep at Smetherman's hands and hoping she doesn't notice. A child huddled at your feet is hard to miss.