CB East Bids Emotional Farewell to Popular Choir Director

How does one sum up 35 years worth of devotion and inspiration?

Central Bucks East High School students and alumni did their best to do just that on Saturday night.

They gathered at Central Bucks West, in Doylestown, for a surprise concert to bid farewell to the man many of them have looked up to for years

E. Scott Teschner retires this year after 35 years of teaching, 25 of which were spent at .

Under his tutelage, the East music program has turned out thousands, of well-rounded students who will carry his music with them in their souls the rest of their lives.

He's produced a few stars, too, including American Idol runner-up Justin Guarini, Evan Powell, of the Tufts University Beelzebubs, the voices of the Warblers on Fox's hit show Glee, and Philadelphia-area cabaret singer Karen Gross.

Saturday's concert brought hundreds of East singers, school alumni and parents together to pay tribute to Teschner's talent and devotion.

During the CB East spring concert earlier this month, principal Abram Lucabaugh said of Teschner, "Scott Teschner has done more than teach our students how to use their voices. He has taught them to find their own voices. His career is worthy of emulation, a professional life well-lived."
 
Guarini, a graduate of the CB East class of 1997, said of Teschner, "Scott played a significant role in my music education at Central Bucks East. His encouragement for me to follow my passion for music helped pave the way for my career and success in the music industry today."

CB East senior and choir member Robert Sica created a video for Teschner of farewell messages from fellow teachers, students and even the bus drivers who took the choir on out-of-town trips.

The emotional messages include some from students whose fathers and grandfathers passed away who said they then looked up to Teschner as a father figure and mentor.

Though full of many expressions of high praise, the video also includes one comment from an East student that perhaps sums up Teschner's career best: "I'm becoming a teacher, and I hope I'm just like you."

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