Educators, especially fellow music educators: Thank you for showing up to work every day. Even when you don't feel great or just don't want to. Thank you for being there for your kids. Thank you for doing the best you can for the students in your care. Even when it doesn't feel like enough (spoiler alert, it will never feel like it's enough), you are making a positive difference in the lives of young people. Don't forget that. Thank you for being a light in the darkness, especially in these times in which the darkness seems to be growing more oppressive than ever. Even though you have your own feelings of discouragement, pain, and trauma, you serve as a beacon of hope for your students and you encourage them to do so for others, without even realizing it. Thank you for dedicating your lives to service. You encourage young people to make music, to make art, to work together to create something bigger than themselves, something beautiful. The opposite of destr...
I am a high school choir teacher teaching at one of the most diverse high schools in my state. I am in my fourteenth year of public school education, and I taught middle school choir for the first twelve. My program's mantra is "Embrace the Struggle," and that mantra continues to take on new significance in a time of great turmoil and upheaval.