At which MSS campus do you teach?
Meeting Street – Brentwood
Why did you decide to be a teacher?
I decided to be a music teacher after my high school internship when I was in my old orchestra room. I fell back in love with how music creates community and culture created by students of all ages and backgrounds.
Why do you choose to stay in the classroom?
I choose to stay in the classroom because I love seeing my students from the beginning of the day in arrival and at the end of day for dismissal, with all of the learning moments in between.
What is the most challenging part of being a teacher?
Teaching explore can be challenging because we teach all of the students in our school, from remembering all of their names to their needs, everyday is a different day to teach different students.
What is the most rewarding part of being a teacher?
When they advocate for us. In a recent study, 90% of arts students, performing or visual, will continue to advocate for the arts when they are older, whether or not they are in the arts currently. Orchestra is my specialty and because of my extended day strings program, my students hold a love and respect for playing an instrument they are gifted in.
Why did you choose to teach at Meeting Street Schools?
I choose to teach at MSS because my music education goals align with their motto and having a music class goes with each pathway to success skill.
What makes Meeting Street Schools different?
The staff here has equipped me with a lot of professional development on classroom management, which is hard to have when I was student teaching in spring 2020. I love the impact our teachers made to create structure as well as a warm presence in our students, so much so that in my other jobs, I teach college students what MSS teaches me in classroom management to prepare them in their student teaching and professional teaching career.
If you were to write a letter to yourself during your first year of teaching giving yourself advice, what would you say?
Your students will always thank you later. It might not seem that way at first, but they will in the end. You are doing the right thing.