Mr. Downing

Many people may not know Mr. Downing. He has been in the high school for two years and is the choir teacher.

Mr. Downing says he has been teaching for 7 years, “This is my second year here at Aurora, but I have been teaching for 7 years now.”

Mr. Downing received his college education from Kent State University, “I got my B.M.E. in Music Education with a minor in music technology and M.A. in Music Theory from Kent State University.”

Mr. Downing mentioned that he wanted to become a teacher because he had a passion for music direction: "I've always had a natural talent and passion for music direction, so it just made sense!”

Mr. Downing says his favorite memory was the spring concert last year, “I haven't been here very long, but probably last year's spring concert. Everything came together really nicely!”

Mr. Downing mentioned that his favorite grade to teach is high school. He teaches both at the high school and the middle school: “My favorite grade to teach is high school because they are more mature, and put all of their effort and emotion into the music making process. However, I am probably best at teaching middle school.”

Mr. Downing says his favorite subject is math: “Besides choir? Math - namely geometry and algebra.”

Mr. Downing mentioned that he likes to play basketball outside of school. “Spend time with my family and friends, and play pickup basketball.”

Mr. Downing is known among his students to be open. The one thing students may not know is that he likes to play Super Smash Bros. “I'm pretty much an open book... I guess that I'm really good at Super Smash Brothers.”

Mr. Downing believes that his best teaching quality is his passion for music. “Genuine enthusiasm for music… You can't fake passion!”

Mr. Downing mentioned the people who have had an impact on him. He included his wife and multiple of his past teachers. “My wife, and then a three way tie between my middle school choir director Mrs. Muckleroy, my early college choir director Dr. Mallis, and my cooperating teacher, Mr. Kieffer.”

Mr. Downing says that his high school experience wasn't his favorite thing in the world, but he made lifelong friends. “Not my favorite. I wasn't very good at school, but I made a lot of lifelong friends and learned a lot of skills.”

By Megan Rentfrow