Piano teacher nurtures youngsters

• By RUTH FOOTE
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Oct 27, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LAFAYETTE — Once a week since the summer of 1999, Mathilda Martin has taught children and adults how to play the piano and sing as part of the Community Cultural Enrichment Program.

Any Monday or Thursday afternoon — and often into the evening at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center — Martin can be found teaching students, as she has for nearly 50 years.

In 1987, she retired from the school system, only to return  — and then return again. She’s now in her third post-retirement stint as a music instructor.

But all the years of teaching in the school system haven’t stopped Martin from remaining committed to the after- school program she helped create almost 10 years ago through the Lafayette Parks and Recreation Department.

That program has had a tremendous impact on the community by identifying and developing musical talent, said Gerald Boudreaux, director of Lafayette Parks and Recreation.

Boudreaux said he has enjoyed witnessing over the years the musical growth in Martin’s students.
Boudreaux said the program “allows them to continue to develop self-esteem.”

It offers participants an opportunity to take pride in themselves and their accomplishments, he added.
Martin couldn’t agree more.

To see her students excel — with some even becoming teachers themselves — has been more than rewarding.

To see her students progress, she said, “That’s the most enjoyable.”

Benjamin Bazile of Lafayette said he has noticed the program’s positive impact on his two children, 12-year-old Alexis and 6-year-old Daztynn.

“They’re more focused,” he said.

As Martin’s hair stylist, Bazile was aware of her work, and knew that her sons had helped found the popular R&B group “Shai” in the 1990s.

“I wanted to get my kids into music,” he said. “I didn’t want anybody else to do it (teach them).”