Kim Banz

As cliche as it might sound, I always wanted to teach.  As a little girl, I would teach to an empty playroom or line my dolls up to read them a picture book.  In fourth grade, I began playing the viola in my elementary orchestra program.  Little did I know that the “joyful noise” coming from that instrument would turn into a lifetime career.  Did I always want to become a music teacher?  No.  In fact, I believed I wanted to teach anything but music.  However, as I continued my education, I began to realize that I had something unique to offer.  I eventually began to  understand that this instrument that had become an extension of myself was just the tool I had been given to reach a bunch of young people.  And as my eyes began to open up to the world around me, I started to see just how powerful a music classroom could be. It didn’t take many days inside my own classroom to realize this job, being a teacher, was truly a calling.  

I have been fortunate to teach in several school districts and youth organizations throughout the years. From beginning a kindergarten violin program to my high school orchestra being invited to play in Carnegie Hall, my students will always be at the heart of what I do.  The relationships with them cannot be replaced. Because as I’m sitting watching a student conduct a piece of music that he composed, I’m the one who knows the obstacles he had to overcome to stand on that podium.  As I stand to the side while a senior opens up our adjudication at contest and immediate cheering and celebration erupts around her, I know the countless hours those kids spent preparing for that singular moment.  When my phone rings and a young woman tells me how she just earned a full scholarship to a local university, I know the adversity she has overcome.  And just a few months ago, I was able to make a phone call and congratulate a young lady for making the All-State Orchestra, knowing that she had every reason to quit, but didn’t.  I’m proud today because of the young men and women my students are becoming.  They are difference makers and world changers. They understand the importance of working together, despite our differences.  They are leaving my classroom and making a positive impact on the society they live in. 

When I accepted a teaching position with OKCPS just five years ago, I stepped out into the unknown.  I could never have imagined the ways these kids would change my life for the better.  During my first year at Classen SAS, a student decided he would start calling me “Momma B”.  One of the greatest joys of my life has been the relationships built with my students. While I still hear that title being called out from across the room or down the hallway, those voices (“my kids”)  and the relationships built are the very reason I do what I do.  I simply would not be the teacher I am today without these young people.  I will forever be grateful for the ways in which they changed my life and remain steadfast that I am truly the luckiest teacher on the planet.