As a music educator, it is my responsibility to provide students with skills that they can bring to all areas of their life. Music education develops self-confidence, self-motivation, peer collaboration, leadership, organization, critical thinking, emotional balance, and so much more.  I have many colleagues that did not pursue music after high school but continue to use the skills honed in their music classes for trade school, engineering, or even neuroscience.

Before pursuing music education in college, I had played my instrument for 8 years. Those 8 years weren’t always about learning and loving every intricacy of what a clarinet could do or being excited to go learn a grade 3 march in band class. I loved band because of the people. I loved band because as a kid who had stuff going on at home, I felt that I belonged in a community. That community is what I will build my classroom around.  Music is something we experience, whether performing or sitting in the audience. From the moment before and after a sound is produced, the producer imagines the process. When a band classroom is process-oriented, students learn to critically think, plan, create, and contemplate music holistically and turn to that process in other areas of life. Even though I may be there to develop kids as musicians, students are also developing as individuals throughout their K-12 years. Music Educators have the unique opportunity to see student’s brains develop over the course of many years and can step in to create that long term change. The classroom must be a safe and welcoming learning environment as students will always have something going on. Whether it be academic stress, social challenges, or personal struggles at home; the music classroom should be a place where they feel understood, supported, and valued, not just as musicians but as people. Students need to believe that they belong at school and believe they can succeed. By creating a community where students feel comfortable expressing themselves, I hope to provide them with a sense of stability and belonging that they may not always have elsewhere.