Diagnosis doesn’t slow show choir director

A typical day for Scott Thorne is made up of long hours, plenty of sequins and pop songs. It’s a lot of work leading Homewood High’s 165 show choir students, but Thorne has loved it for the past 13 years.

“People keep telling me I need to slow down, but I know how I’m wired. I know that I want it to be great,” Thorne said.

Thorne will readily admit that he works too much — on competition weekends, he’ll work as much as 40 hours in a single weekend. That’s a daunting task for anyone, but Thorne carries the extra burden of multiple sclerosis, a diagnosis he received in December 2014.

“It’s a shocker because you want to believe, ‘I’m invincible,’” Thorne said.

Multiple sclerosis causes the immune system to attack the nervous system and is known as a “silent disease,” Thorne said, because many of the symptoms aren’t immediately visible. He said he will have different symptoms each day, depending on how he feels or even the weather. The disease can cause severe leg and foot cramps, vision loss, speech and walking difficulties and muscle spasms. 

The big one, he said, is extreme fatigue.

“I know what it’s like to be tired, but there are days where it’s like, if I had to move my arms right now, I don’t know if I could do it,” Thorne said.

After his diagnosis, Thorne said he came to two conclusions almost immediately. One, he was going to tell his students about his illness.

“You have 165 kids looking up to you every day,” Thorne said. “They’re a big part of my life, and they need to understand that you’re going to face some sort of struggle like this in your life.”

Two, he was going to help others with MS for as long as he was physically capable. Thorne had always been inspired by his mother’s attitude of selfless service, and he wanted to emulate it.

“If there’s a day that I can’t do for myself, I want to know that I did everything I could while I could,” Thorne said.

The members of Homewood’s show choirs don’t know all the details of Thorne’s daily struggle with MS, but he said they can usually tell when he’s having a bad day. 

“The kids are so supportive of me. They know I care about them, and I know they care about me,” Thorne said. 

Senior HHS student Olivia Pierce has been in the Associate show choir, one of the three at HHS, since she began high school. She said that sometimes she can tell when Thorne’s symptoms are worse, but she rarely hears him complain.

“He lets us see a lot into his life, which is great… He wants us to feel involved and wants us to feel like we’re a part of what he’s doing,” Pierce said. “I think he tries to keep it from interfering with his day-to-day interactions with us.”

Parent Jodi McDuff has had all three of her children participate in the Network show choir. She remembers when Thorne was diagnosed and said that he has been a positive role model to her children as long as she’s known him.

McDuff said she knows exactly how challenging show choir season can be, but Thorne has risen to the challenge.

“I think he’s done a great job. He’s not missing class, he’s not missing rehearsal. I don’t know how he’s done it this year,” McDuff said. “He’s been a strong figure in our kids’ lives.”

Thorne has even gotten Pierce and some of his other students involved with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, including the Birmingham area MS Walk each April. This year, Thorne’s team is trying to raise $4,300 before the walk on April 9. Some of the students will sing the National Anthem at the event at Regions Field.

In return for their support, Thorne works hard to make sure that MS and all the symptoms that come with it will not prevent him from being their show choir director anytime they need him.

“I value what I do, and I value what the kids see me do, enough that I’m going to push through most anything,” Thorne said.

To help others dealing with MS, Thorne has also been involved in the Alabama and Mississippi chapter of the National MS Society since early 2015. The chapter president, Homewood resident Andrew Bell, said Thorne is one of the volunteers they wish they had more of.

“Scott’s one of our favorite people in the world,” Bell said. “I can’t say enough good things about him and his impact in just a year’s time on the work that we do at this organization.”

Bell remembers meeting Thorne at the Brookwood Village O’Henry’s. Thorne didn’t just want to volunteer — he came with an idea for a whole new fundraising event: a bourbon and BBQ tasting event. Bell said it was the name – Bourbonham – that sold him. 

The inaugural BourbonHam, held at Old Car Heaven in January, surpassed Bell’s expectations. It brought in around 450 guests, many of whom had never been involved with the MS Society before, and raised $27,000.

“It was a big hit in the first year. We were very pleased with the outcome, and it wouldn’t have happened if Scott hadn’t had the vision and the wherewithal,” Bell said.

Thorne said creating BourbonHam was “quite possibly one of the most rewarding things I have ever experienced,” and he’s excited to plan it again for 2017. It’s a whole different experience from creating the 17-minute shows that his choirs perform onstage.

With the right treatment options, Thorne said he wants to keep directing show choirs until he retires. Along the way, he hopes Homewood students will see him as a lifelong lesson in perseverance and service.

“It’s an emotional thing for me. I hope that they’re going to get something out of this that’s long term,” Thorne said.

So far, Thorne seems to be succeeding.

“He’s the best teacher I’ve ever had. I can definitely say that. He puts his whole entire life into teaching show choir for us,” Pierce said. “He really has changed a lot of lives and I hope he can know that.”