Due to previous instances, McDowell Exchange School has had to hire a new choir teacher this semester, after having a substitute for a few months. Her name is Miss Barbieri (students call her Miss B), and being new to McDowell, we would like to get to know her better. We asked her questions about her job and her students. You can read her answers are down below, if you would like to know her better, too!
First, we asked her opinion on the classes she teaches throughout the day. Her reply was, “I love my classes. They make me so happy, and it’s really exciting to see so much progress already!” Next we wanted to know Miss Barbieri’s plans for her choir students. She said, “Um, I hope to make my students independent musicians when they grow up. I want to make them powered enough and have enough skills to learn music on their own.” After that, being seventh graders in choir, we wondered what Miss Barbieri thought of our seventh grade choir class. She told us, “There are a lot of seventh graders, and are very energetic. They are developing musicians.” After asking this, we thought of what her opinions might be about her eighth graders, too. She said, “I think my eighth graders are amazing singers, and quick to learn. We’re already done with two pieces. They’re just cruising through!” After this, of course, we had to know what she thought about her high schoolers. Naturally, we asked her about them as well. “My high schoolers are funny, awesome, and intelligent. They are very ambitious, and are ready for whatever I throw at them,” was her reply.
At this point in the interview, we decided to have a little fun with jokes. We asked if she had seen the spirit said to haunt the very choir room we were in! “A–are you serious? No, really, are you kidding me?” She said, surprised. We told her that we were kidding, and she laughed.
Next we wanted to focus more on her life. We asked what her hobbies were. She said, “Besides music, I like to spend time outside, like hiking. I do this in my free time, which I don’t have very much of. I also like crafting, knitting, and embroidery.” You may not have know that, at the age of twenty-two, this is Miss Barbieri’s first job at teaching. So, we asked how long she has wanted to be a music teacher. She told us, “I decided on Choral Music Education in my senior year at high school. It’s been five years since I chose that. Music was my favorite subject in school and I want to share it with others!” Knowing that music has been Miss Barbieri’s passion since high school, we wanted to know why she chose this particular job. Her answer was, “Good question! I love this area of Ohio, and I wanted to be a choir teacher. There was an opening here, and I took it. I love this job!” The final question we asked was what drove her to become a choir teacher. “Music was my favorite subject in school. In my junior and senior years, I realized that music was not only my favorite subject, but what I was best at! Music is something that can be spread and make people feel awesome.”
That was Miss Barbieri, the new choir teacher! We definitely got to know Miss Barbieri better. It was also great to learn more about her steps to becoming a teacher and her other interests. Hopefully, as she is new to the district, she will feel more comfortable around us, too!