We’ve been receiving dozens of stories from people coast to coast about the transformative power of music. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we are publishing a story every day in May.
Submitted by: Melanie Kearns
Every day I get up, hustle my kids out the door. Slug back a coffee and go to work.
I have to say that I have an average life. I am an average person. I am an average French horn player. Average parent. Average wife. However, when I go to work as a music teacher in a public elementary school, my life becomes something magical. Music takes me to place that few people experience – I get to sing and dance with children. I get to move and shake and spend my time with people who don’t care who is watching. I get to experiment with music. I get to create music. I get to witness and partake in small people learning about the power of music and wanting to share it with me. I get to learn from people who everyday teach me something new about music.
‘Mrs. Kearns- my mouthpiece is stuck’
‘Mrs. Kearns- Johnny sounds terrible’
‘Mrs. Kearns- did you hear what I just played?’
‘Mrs. Kearns- did you know that my parent’s sister’s brother is the nephew of Stompin’ Tom?’
‘Mrs. Kearns- do you know a piece of music called Wheat Kings?
I have to say that there is nothing better than being with a class of 35 kindergarten children pretending to be pieces of popcorn. Hopping, bouncing, and jumping everywhere, to Barenaked Ladies’ song Popcorn.
I have 567 students. I know all of them. I get the privilege of being their music teacher from
kindergarten until they graduate from grade 8. I probably know them better and in a different way than their homeroom teachers and their parents. My job is to help them to stay uninhibited. To teach them to listen to music; truly listen and not judge. My job is to give them experiences with music. My job is to hope that when they are adults they will love music and pass their love on to their children.
What does this look like for me during the time of Covid? At the beginning it was heartbreak. I couldn’t see my free spirits rolling on the ground when I played one of Neil Peart’s drum solos. I didn’t get to see the expression on my grade 5’s faces when they had success strumming one of Melanie Doane’s tunes. I couldn’t feel the energy in the room when I drill my concert band through a piece that they’re prepping for the CBC Classroom challenge. I couldn’t see the bits of popcorn bouncing around my classroom.
Heartbreak.
I’ve been unhappy. Why should I be upset when we’ve been given the opportunity of time?
Opportunity to practice. Opportunity to rest. Opportunity to spend time with my children. The break from the everyday hustle and bustle of my average life. But time, without inspiration from the people who have taught me the most about music is heartbreaking.
However.
My students have started emailing me. They’ve been sending me clips of amazing music they are doing. I have been getting links to South African singers, groups singing from rooftops in Italy. Children sending me links to the podcasts they’ve created and the music they’ve written. News clippings about how music is uniting groups of people. I’ve had children send me links to pieces of orchestral music that they’ve listened to. Kids sending me quotes about how music is uplifting. My wee ones have brought me inspiration. All little bits of inspiration that helps me to continue in my understanding and learning of music. It isn’t the same as participating in a large group of free spirited 5-year-olds but it is still inspiring. Music is always there and it is amazing to see it as important to my students.
The power of music in my life is that, as an average person, I get to experience extraordinary things every day in the extraordinary people I am so fortunate to teach.
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