Here in West Michigan most of our schools have vibrant music programs. For schools like Jenison and Rockford, not only are the music classes at the top but now so are two of their teachers.
Here at Jenison Junior High School music can be heard in the halls as Mrs. Johnson’s prelude strings class practices their notes.
“I love seeing kids be able to progress through the different levels of music,” says Carol Johnson.” When they know that they’re achieving at a high level, it’s rewarding for them and they’re here for … that they want to find out what that next step is and they want to find out how to get better and how to do more things on their instruments.“
At Rockford High School, they have a similar situation.
Mrs. Scott’s advanced treble ensemble are taking advantage of the great acoustics in the front atrium.
“If it’s all academics all the time, it can really be it can wear down a person,” Mandy Scott explains. “This is a place where they can come and they can be themselves and we can be creative and we can laugh. We can have fun; we can build a community, a really strong community about around music.”