Category: Breaking News

Recently, MTMS student Jeila was awarded with the New Albany Eighth Grade Student of the Year Award. Jeila takes flute lessons with Angela here at MTMS, but she also plays piccolo and saxophone. She is a member of the MTMS Flute Choir as well as the concert band at school. Jeila will be pursuing Honor Band and marching band next year when she enters high school.

Jeila’s love of music started at a young age, and she began piano lessons when her older brother Jerrin showed an interest. But when she started band in middle school, it became clear that her true musical calling is playing the flute. She loves practicing on her own, but also plays with her two older brothers, who also study here at MTMS.

Jeila is on our most advanced program in the computer lab, called MacGamut. She works on ear training and scale notation at a very advanced level. She has taken lessons from MTMS for about seven years, and told me that what she has learned through MTMS carries over into her musical life outside of this school. I asked her about her plans for the future and she wasn’t quite sure yet, but told me she always wants to have music in her life.

We are very proud of you Jeila, and cannot wait to see what you do next!

A few weeks ago, we asked our younger students to fill out a survey so we could get better insight into what their thoughts and feelings are about music and learning. After a week of “wait how do you spell…” and “I can’t pick just one!” here’s what our students look for in a teacher:

“What do you think makes someone a good teacher?”

• “One who challenges students and studies ways to make the classroom a productive learning environment.” -Alycia
• “They are kind, helpful, and AWESOME!!!!!!” -Gargi
• “I think good teachers are those that are able to adapt to the way that the students learn the best.” -Trey
• “Treating your students as relative equals.” -Lauren
• “Someone who is funny, and understands what I am struggling with. Someone who tells me how I can make myself better because I know when I am not doing my best.” -Avi
• “One that is patient, one with personality, and a broad knowledge of the topic they teach. Also one that has humor.” -Mahir
• “A good teacher must be funny, kind, and smart.  My teacher is all that!!” -Sasha
• “Teach me stuff.” -Priya
• “The ability to listen and adapt based on what the students need.” -Thomas

It made me smile when one student said, “I don’t really know how to answer this question, but I think my teacher is a good teacher, can I just describe her?” At MTMS we know that learning is a lifelong process, and we have just as much to learn from our students as they do from us. Thank you for lending your input, we appreciate each and every one of you! 💜

Written by Katie Ball, Gahanna Lab Lead

This week I talked to Willow, one of our french horn students here at the MTMS Gahanna campus. Willow is a high school senior, and she recently committed to the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University, where she will be pursuing a degree in french horn performance.

At MTMS, Willow takes lessons with Krissandra, one of our main winds and brass instructors. Willow told me that Krissandra has helped her more than any teacher has before, both with her music skills and the college application process. To audition for music school involves many steps, including pre-screening recordings and auditions. Krissandra helped Willow pick her repertoire and wrote letters of recommendation to the schools she applied to in addition to teaching her the music along the way.

Willow has been working hard on music composition projects in the computer lab since she tested out of MacGamut, the hardest program we offer here. When I asked her how she felt about her theory training here, she said that it was “nice to have a place to practice music theory skills every week.” As a high school senior, things are busy enough as is, and to sit and practice theory for just 20 minutes a week helps keep the information fresh and helps students prepare for music theory placement tests they will have to take once they get to college. MacGamut is used in most music departments across the US, so having experience with it already will make theory a little easier in college!

We are so proud of Willow and her accomplishments! Thank you for being such a dedicated student and sharing your experiences with us. We wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors. 💜

Willow’s next performance with MTMS will be May 11th at the Adult Recital. She and Krissandra will be performing Gallay’s Grand Duet No. 2 (Allegro Poco Agitato), you won’t want to miss it!

Musically,

Katie Ball, Lab Lead