For some, showing up to their workplace every day is just that – work. For alumni Amanda Sarles and Trevor Thompson, their roles as music educators are more of a calling, something they have dedicated their lives to and continuously strive to improve upon. That unwavering commitment has not gone unnoticed; at Oregon Music Education Association’s (OMEA) annual conference in January, they were both awarded for their excellence.
“It was an honor and validation that I am an excellent music teacher,” Sarles, who teaches at Siuslaw Elementary School in Florence, Oregon, said. “This was just a real honor.”
Both graduated from the School of Music and Dance’s (SOMD) Master of Music Education program in 2018 and were honored with the highly coveted award for Excellence in Music Education – Amanda in the elementary school category and Trevor in the middle school category.
“It is an incredible honor to receive OMEA’s excellence in middle school music education award,” Thompson, who is the band director at Joseph Lane Middle School in Roseburg, Oregon, said. “To be recognized with an award like this in front of friends and colleagues from around the state of Oregon was an incredible experience.”
In the Classroom
Their individual teaching philosophies help explain why they were both selected to receive this recognition. Thompson says he is all about having fun! “Being a music director is a tough job, like really really tough, but we always need to make it as fun as possible,” he said. “Sometimes it can be easy to forget that we need to have fun with this job, and it is vital that the students have fun too. If we are having fun, the kids will feed off that. When kids are enjoying the learning process, they will be motivated to keep working hard.”
Trevor takes a selfie with his band students
Even the data back that up. At the start of the 2023-24 school year, 100% of Thompson’s former 8th graders enrolled in high school band class as freshmen, indicating a high retention rate. Additionally, 90% of 6th and 7th grade students who participated in band during the 2022-23 school year continued in the program this school year. Thompson’s emphasis on fun as a motivational tool is also effective in competitive settings. Last year, a record-breaking 11 students submitted recordings for the highly competitive All-State audition, demonstrating the efficacy of his teaching approach.
Sarles, too, centers her philosophy around creating an inviting environment for the kids. "My teaching philosophy is that all students can learn to express themselves musically. All of them,” she said. “My job is to train them in the skills they need, help them learn the knowledge that they need, and motivate them to express their feelings through music. And I do that from their first music lesson to their fifth-grade graduation, hoping along the way they learn they are a musician, and they can express themselves musically.”
Sarles emphasizes that first, however, before the music can happen, students must feel a sense of belonging. Without that, she says, they cannot learn. She is committed to ensuring students understand that when they step into her classroom, they feel included. They belong.
“If they're going to belong in the music room, they have to see someone who looks like them,” she said. “They have to hear something that sounds like something they hear at home. They must know they have a connection here. Because if they don't, I'm failing them. If they don't see musicians who look like them, they don't think that they can do it either.”
Sarles makes an active effort to introduce students to a diverse range of musicians with different genders, races, and abilities. She has also examined her curriculum for problematic content. “I have uncovered things that I have created and taught for years,” acknowledged. “For example, a song in the curriculum has roots in segregation, and I had to remove that song, because that is what is required to create a sense of belonging for every student that enters our school.”
In January, Sarles visited the SOMD to discuss inclusivity with current music education students.
Gratitude for SOMD
Both Sarles and Thompson express gratitude toward the SOMD for getting them to where they are now. “Working with the faculty, staff, and students in the SOMD helped me see my potential as an educator and I will always look back at my time at UO with fond memories,” Thompson said. “My time as a graduate assistant with Dr. Jason Silveira (Wind Symphony) and Dr. Eric Wiltshire (Athletic Bands) taught me the importance of being a good musician, caring deeply about students, and staying organized.”
Trevor leading the Oregon Marching Band
Sarles thanks Dr. Melissa Brunkan for teaching her to have confidence in herself as an educator and for showing her how to teach children to sing. “I had already spent six years in the classroom telling myself I didn't know how to do it, and it was too hard,” she recalled. “Then Dr. Brunkan flipped me on my head, changed my paradigm, shifted my thinking, opened my mind, and taught me how to teach students how to sing. Most of it was just telling myself that I could do it.”
She also attributes her proficiency in conducting to Dr. Sharon Paul, cites Dr. Eric Wiltshire for his guidance to emphasize the importance of community in music education, and thanks Dr. Elizabeth Wheeler for her lessons underscoring the significance and understanding of cognitive development in children and how that translates to teaching styles for different grade levels.
Notably, Sarles expressed a profound appreciation for dance instructor Rita Honka, whose African Dance class fostered self-assurance and a sense of self expression. “I don't know if I would be who I am today without having taken her class,” Sarles smiled. “She's incredible. Everyone should take her course. She changed my life.”