Biography
"I didn't plan on being a music teacher at first. I went into music ed in order to learn everything I possibly could about music and ended up falling in love with teaching in the process."
New Beginnings
It all started when her family was donated a old piano from a local church. Claire quickly became attached to music by the age of 6, having taught herself popular tunes, such as the theme from Star Wars and Harry Potter, by ear. Her parents signed her up for piano lessons, which she continued to take for 11 years. While learning more about music theory and piano technique, she became fascinated by the local theater scene and contributed to at least 10 productions before she was in high school.
She started playing the trumpet in middle school and quickly changed to trombone, falling into the long list of low-brass players in her family. As she entered high school, she struggled to balance her interest in piano, trombone, and voice but ultimately came to the conclusion that, "I might as well keep practicing all three," and decided she couldn't pick just one. She then auditioned for the top choir at her school and became one of the youngest members by her sophomore year.
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"My scheduling advisor was so sick of me. I was dead set on being in every ensemble offered and had to take a few independent-study classes in order to meet all of my required credits. Music was my No. 1 priority."
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By her senior year, she was head drum major, president of the top choir, and the lead in the schools production of Mama Mia! As her fascination for music grew, she couldn't stop there. She paused her trombone playing and switched to the euphonium for her schools Symphony Band and began playing French horn in the Concert Band. She also spent a lot of her time at the middle school, student directing musicals. At one point she was taking lessons in not only trombone and piano, but also percussion, voice, and conducting.
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As she got closer to graduating, she began to panic. "How could I possible decide on what part of music to study, I was way too stubborn to pick one thing." She talked often with her teachers about where she wanted to audition and what she wanted to study. "The answer was staring me directly in the face. If I truly want to know everything about music then why not try music education!"
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College Life
After graduating high school in 2020, Claire had an interesting start to her college career. Because of the COVID-19 virus, she started her exploration into education at a very difficult time for teachers everywhere. After her first semester, she decided to take a break from living on campus and became an online student until Fall of 2021. During that time, she contemplated her future and considered halting her advanced education. In the end, it was her mentors and professors that brought her back on the right path. She was inspired by their every-day support of the arts and their dedication to the wellbeing of their students and ultimately began crafting her own philosophy of education. Though she fought through the peak of the pandemic, she continued to struggle due to many life altering moments.
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At the beginning of 2023, Claire got an offer to be the music/vocal director for a production at the Three Rivers Community Players. She took a leap of faith and proceeded to dive back into her musical theater roots. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced and presented her with many new challenges. She learned how to hire musicians, plan band rehearsals, plan vocal rehearsals with the cast, and study over 20 different scores in a matter of weeks. Even though the process was difficult, she felt as if she finally understood what teaching was all about.
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"It was like I had found the perfect mix of all of my interests. Instrumental music, vocal music, and theater. At the end of it all, the only thing I wanted to do next was keep teaching."
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After her first production, she continued to teach/direct for the next four. She made many connections in the process and began teaching weekly private piano/voice lessons and offered free lessons to any cast members who were interested. She connected her experiences to her college classes and developed more and more pedagogical skills.
References
Deanna Russell - Pre-internship mentor
Band Director at Portage Middle and High School
pcbands.ws.portageps.org
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Craig Freeman - Pre-internship mentor
Band Director at Maple Street Magnet School and Hillside Middle School
Freemancm@kalamazoopublicschools.net
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