Sheila Litke
During the work day, Dr. Sheila (Schmitt ’90) Litke, associate professor of piano and piano pedagogy at Tabor College, can be found teaching classes, mentoring and encouraging students, or running Tabor’s Music Preparatory School. When the day ends, however, she takes to the fields near her Hillsboro, Kansas, home. Litke helps her husband, Glenn, run the family farm. Before and after work and sometimes on her lunch break, Litke can be found preparing meals for the day, assisting with the combine during harvest time or running into town for machinery parts. Teaching and farming can be demanding at times, and Litke works hard at both.
In 2007-2008, she was named Distinguished Faculty at Tabor, and before that she received a doctorate in piano performance from the University of Kansas as well as her master’s in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Colorado. The most rewarding part of teaching for her is “working with and encouraging the students,” states Litke. She remembers how her Houghton professors contributed to her own growth during the tough times at college. “The conversations and the soul-searching during and after those times were when I grew the most,” recalls Litke. She hopes to do the same for her students. “I have a great passion to challenge them not only in their musical development but also in their spiritual development.”
One of the largest influences on Litke’s life at Houghton was the late Dr. C. Nolan Huizenga. “As my principal piano instructor, we met regularly and developed a good friendship. I respected him for his vast knowledge and ability to teach and challenge me beyond what I thought I was capable. Many of the technical skills I have today are the result of Dr. Huizenga’s instruction.” Now Litke teaches these techniques to her own students.
When she is not teaching or working on the farm, Litke enjoys performing at the college or around the area with other classically trained musicians. She married a vocalist in 2008. “Prior to taking over the farm, Glenn taught college-level voice for eighteen years,” states Litke. The couple performed a recital together at Tabor last year. “Glenn conducts a statewide homeschool choir that I have accompanied. We perform together at various events in the area as well.”
Juggling teaching and farming “is a challenge at times,” Litke says. “Hearing about the farm and living the farming life are really quite different. It is necessary for me to find some relaxing time as I balance the two jobs, but I really do enjoy it.”
