I’m a full month and a half into my New Zealand Fulbright Experience. As the title of this entry says, I will reflect a bit on where I came from before I arrived.
Mountain Mahogany Community School
For the past 5 years I have been teaching at a beautiful public charter school in Albuquerque, New Mexico USA called Mountain Mahogany Community School. If not for my experience at MMCS, I likely would not be in New Zealand now on this Fulbright Scholarship. Mountain Mahogany Community School is where my integration of music/teaching/learning was truly nurtured. About a week before I began teaching there, Kendra Toth (school director) asked me how I was going to begin my first day of school with the kids. After years in public education, my trained response was, “I will sit everyone down, and I will go over the class rules.” I was surprised to see Kendra’s expression so skeptical.
“Hmmmm. No,” she replied, “I think you should greet them at the door with your guitar and begin by singing them a song.”
Music Gear
You can imagine how surprised I was to have this most pleasing suggestion from my boss. In the past, I felt I had to “hide” musical activities and only squeeze them in here and there if extra time allowed. This may have been in my own head, but that was the impression I had. Mountain Mahogany was my first experience where I really felt that using music was embraced and encouraged. So, I just want to give a public thank you to Kendra Toth (director), Baylor Del Rosario (administrator), and all the MMCS staff, students, families, and friends for welcoming the music I have been incorporating in my role as a classroom teacher and member of this inspirational community.
That’s a bit about where I came from. Now, stay tuned, and I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to here in New Zealand for the past several weeks.
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Seth Hoffman
Community Publishing will be publishing a Multimedia Book written and Illustrated by Seth Hoffman titled, Janie and the Hummingbird. Seth is a musician, artist and educator based out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Follow his adventures here every Tuesday.
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