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10 Things I Love About Middle School Choir Part 9: Middle School Choir Colleagues are Awesome

Part 9: Middle School Choir Colleagues are Awesome

Middle school choir teachers are my tribe. One of the many benefits of my time as a middle school choir teacher was the fact that I met a great number of incredible people over the years. I think it takes a special type of personality to teach middle successfully...you have to be a little crazy, no question. Flexibility, a lot of energy, a good (and somewhat ridiculous) sense of humor are qualities I find most middle school teachers possess. I know a lot of great people who teach other levels, and I am sure I will meet many more, but I will always cherish the friendships I have built with other teachers who have been in the middle school trenches. 

When I started teaching middle school, I knew only a few other middle school choir teachers in the whole state. I feel like at the time this was pretty standard for most of us. It seemed like the high school teachers all knew each other and hung out with each other at conferences and it never felt like the middle school choir teachers had a similar social network. In 2011, my mentor Emily was asked to join the Colorado ACDA chapter board as the Middle School repertoire chair. And she reached out to me and generously asked me to join her on the board as co-chair. We set out with our time on the ACDA board with the goals of increasing the offerings for middle school teachers at the summer ACDA conference and for building a network where middle school choir teachers could connect to one another. 

A year later, we started working on idea we'd been kicking around for years: starting a Middle School All State Choir. We assembled a board of middle school teachers from around the state: people who were energetic, hard-working, passionate, who were willing to dream big and run with our crazy idea. Six years of successful Middle School All State Choir festivals later and counting, I still can't believe sometimes that we actually pulled it off. That a dedicated group of middle school choir teachers with no experience in creating a brand new organization and a huge state-level event got together and built something amazing where there had been nothing before. But that's exactly what we did. I met some amazing people on that board, people who did (and many who continue to do) an insane amount of work for no compensation, just to make something really awesome for kids. I worked with incredible middle school colleagues in my district who put in extra work to create festivals and an honor choir, just to give our kids more opportunities. Middle school choral music in Colorado looks so different than it did a decade ago, and I am proud to have been a part of that transformation, and I am grateful to all of the phenomenal teachers who made it happen. 

I am so appreciative of the spirit of collaboration and support  I have encountered in our community of middle school choir directors. Rather than being hyper-competitive with each other, so many of the middle choir directors I know are willing to help each other out, share ideas, and celebrate each other's successes. Obviously these aren't qualities exclusive to middle school choir teachers (in fact a high school colleague seriously saved my life this week by being willing to share materials with me for a class I feel sorely unprepared to teach), but I have always been impressed and proud by how prevalent these qualities have been in the middle school choirs I have had the privilege of knowing. 

Here's to kindness amongst colleagues. Here's to supporting each other and bonding through our mutual fondness for this insane age group. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep encouraging young educators to teach middle school and to stick through the early years where it's really hard. We need great teachers to continue to choose this age group, it's an incredibly important one. I will be addressing why I think this age group is so important in Part 10, which will be my final installment of the series. I am grateful for every teacher (not just choir teachers, though definitely them!) who teaches middle school and truly loves it. Those kids need you.


An Introduction to the Series
Part 1: Middle School Kids Won't Sing for an Asshole
Part 2: Middle School Kids are Hilarious
Part 3: Middle School Kids are Inconsistent
Part 4: Middle School Kids Have a Unique Energy
Part 5: Middle School Kids Have a Unique Loyalty
Part 6: Middle School Kids Have an Unrivaled Capacity for Growth
Part 7: Middle School Kids Will Rise or Fall to Your Expectations
Part 8: Middle School Kids Can Sing Challenging and Interesting Repertoire



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