By: Jaden Majewski
*Music and Band Teacher*
*Why did you decide to become a teacher?
“My parents were both music teachers. My dad was a band director, and my mom was also into music. They both went to the same college; that’s where they met. It’s kind of like destiny. I grew up with it, and it was in the family.”
*How do you deal with a stressful day?
“I would say that the days aren’t stressful; they are just busy. I love my job! There can be stress as far as getting something together to have it ready to perform, but I also look at it as it’s not necessarily stressful; it’s just there’s so much going on that you don’t really have any time to think about it or stop. It just goes from one thing to the next. There’s no downtime. So, I look at it as being busy and hectic. But if there’s any kind of stress or pressure, I just go and run ten miles.”
*What is your most interesting, high school memory?
“Marching down Main Street (Disney World – Magic Kingdom) down in Orlando, Florida, and the band playing the fight song with Cinderella’s castle on the horizon.”
*If you could change your career, what would it be?
“I think I made the right choice because I love what I do. If I ever considered doing something else, I would maybe like being able to perform more. But once I started taking conducting classes and getting involved with running rehearsals and other stuff, I knew that this is what I wanted to do.”
*What is your funniest, teaching memory?
“Years and years ago, I was running a jazz band rehearsal, and some of the students in that group climbed on top of the school with a ladder. So, I came out, and I moved the ladder. I didn’t realize that some of the students were on top of the school. They were standing there {stranded}. Then, I told them I called the police, and they were freaking out.”
*What is your biggest setback in life?
“I don’t look at things like that. I don’t think of things as being a setback. You have to just move forward and get past it. It is what it is. There are things you can’t control that happen to everybody in life, whether that’s somebody who has health issues or a family member who gets sick. Just move forward, and keep doing what you do. So, I don’t really look at setbacks as something that knocks you down, and then, you can’t recover from it. Just have a positive outlook, and things will work themselves out.”
*If you could change one thing about our school, what would it be?
“I wish that more kids understood the importance of tradition and the Alma mater. All the people who came before them paved the way and created those traditions that we hold so dear. If there’s a tradition that the band does, a lot of those traditions were here before me. I don’t think everybody necessarily realizes that. I think that a lot of the kids embrace it, but they think it’s their own. They don’t realize that there’s a whole process and arc to that. You should feel honored to be a part of the timeline.”
THE RETURN OF THE EYE 