As we prepare for Mount Madonna School’s 40th annual Ramayana! – and Sampad Kachuck’s 35th year directing this epic – it seems relevant to turn the spotlight on Sampad and acknowledge our deep gratitude for his many contributions. This article was first published in 2015.
Plunging into the watery depths from a swimming pool’s high dive can be intimidating, and, as a child growing up, Sampad Martin Kachuck admits his own fear of heights made high dives a huge personal challenge that he struggled to overcome.
“When I was a kid and we’d go to the community swimming pool with a high dive, I would watch other kids climb the ladder, walk out to the end of the board and dive into the pool,” said Sampad, longtime Mount Madonna School (MMS) teacher and performing arts director. “I was always afraid, but I would force myself to do it, telling myself the whole way up the stairs to not turn around and climb down. So, while my jump and landing were less than aesthetic, it was the challenge to work through the fear that motivated the plunge, so to speak.”
That fear of ‘diving in’ — of putting one’s self on display, particularly when engaged in something that pushes us beyond our comfort zone — is easily relatable for MMS middle and high school students, who each year participate in Song Share, an MMS performing arts rite of passage that Sampad began decades ago. During the first weeks back at school in the fall, students take turns singing for 90 seconds a cappella in front of the entire middle/high student body and performing arts directing team.
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