You Teach People, Not Content

Key Insight 3

My sophomore year of high school, a close friend of mine went through an abrupt change that forced him to leave his home and move into a nearby foster home. This sudden change left him without support from his family and in dire need of help. He struggled with his mental health, and his grades slipped from A’s and B’s to failing. I grew up in a low socioeconomic status community with one of South Carolina’s largest foster homes feeding into the school district. Taking PSYC 526: Prevention of Psychological Problems in Children and Youth at Risk explained many of the struggles my previous classmates grew up with. 

In PSYC 526, my big takeaway became that all young people have circumstances that can put them at risk of developing psychological or behavioral issues. In a rural or low socioeconomic community, these risks are increased. The factors that put a child at high risk of dysfunction are familial issues, poor schools, negative social interactions, and psychological stressors. When working with students, it is crucial that you think of the students as young people with hardships, strengths, and weaknesses. It is easy for educators to think about their students only in a school setting, often removed from the stressors that they go through at home; However, just like adults, youth carry their hardships from home with them everywhere they go. You teach people, not content meaning you must understand the young people you are working with.

To finish out the semester in PSYC 526, I worked with a group of my classmates on a project that became a fundamental reason in my goal to pursue teaching in a Title 1 school district. We studied Mental Health in Rural Schools. This issue related perfectly to my classmate’s life that was turned around in the span of a day. Relating to those you teach is important, and you help others grow when you treat them with empathy and kindness. It is fundamental that teachers have the training and resources to best serve the students in their classroom, and unfortunately, many lack the training to help students with mental health struggles, especially in our rural communities. When the students feel cared for, they care more about the program and want to learn. Obtaining a psychology minor has better equipped me to be a teacher and mentor to young minds, but I am one of few with this certification.

To better prepare me to teach a band program of my own, I began searching for a job with a smaller high school marching band program. In the Fall of 2024, I found myself working at Dreher High School in downtown Columbia. The program is well built but lacks many of the resources typically marked as the requirements for success. The band size is smaller than others in its classification at about 50 students and all funding is raised by the students and parents. The members of the program are very diverse with students from self-contained special education programs, children with parents who frequently move, families that lack the financial means to participate in the program, and students with serious mental health struggles. From the stands of a stadium, it is easy to overlook the diversity of the crowd, but as their teacher who interacts with them everyday, I quickly learned who each student was and how to best serve them.

One Dreher student that I will never forget, we will call her Megan, confided in me as her mentor. On the first day of band camp she sat alone at the lunch room table and I sat beside her. I learned that she listens to a lot of the same music as me and by the end of the week, we established a routine at the start of every rehearsal. Megan would come up to me with a song she wanted me to listen to, and I would respond with a recommendation for her. The next day we would share our thoughts on the song. When the school year began, I didn’t see her for the first week and grew concerned. The director of bands shared with me that there had been zoning and paperwork issues with her because of a familial situation and that unless it is worked out, she would not be able to return. 

Later in that month Megan returned and gave me a big hug saying that she missed seeing her teachers while the situation was resolved. Throughout that fall semester shared with me bits and pieces of her struggles with depression, anxiety, school, and family. When we had a parent night, she was one of few students that didn’t have parents join for the event so she asked me to sit with her. It was little things like asking Megan what she did over the weekend or why she liked a certain music artist that made the difference. At the end of the band season, she gave me a teary-eyed goodbye and told me that I was her favorite teacher. I found that supporting and connecting with students was the norm for the staff of Dreher’s Band Program and that is what truly made the program successful.

You do not know what a student may be experiencing outside the doors of your classroom. The job of a teacher is to recognize every person in the classroom as a human who goes through trials and tribulations. Scott Lang, a music educator and leadership expert, shared the following quote from Teddy Roosevelt, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” In PSYC 526 we made the same connection that what decreases risk for psychological, educational, or behavioral struggles in youth is having someone in their lives that they can confide in and that supports them. My friend that I described is the reason I decided to pursue music. It was music that he confided in to get through high school and find peace in his hardships. When I told him I thought I might want to teach five years ago, he told me, "You should, you will change lives like you changed mine." Now as I teach, I think of that friend and show young minds love and support alongside teaching content to the student.

In a few months, I will be the teacher of several hundred young minds in a middle school band room. These students will be ages 11-14, a time where you are rapidly developing and maturing. The years are fundamental in shaping children into kind and strong human beings. It is incredibly important that as I enter a classroom of my own, I hold onto the idea that I teach young people and not music. I have the incredible opportunity to mentor students, not just to grow as musicians, but as students and people. I am committed to knowing every individual that steps foot into the band room and providing them with support in all the things they love. When I retire from teaching, I won’t remember every detail of my lessons, but I will remember those that I taught and our memories together. Likewise, 20 years from now, no student will remember the day they learned their Bb scale in middle school band, but they will remember the teacher that told them they can accomplish anything they set their mind to and work towards.