{"id":1702,"date":"2021-04-07T09:32:12","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T13:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/?p=1702"},"modified":"2021-04-20T12:35:16","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T16:35:16","slug":"leader-of-the-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/leader-of-the-band\/","title":{"rendered":"Leader of the Band"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following some useful early assignments as a teacher, UTC grad Jamey Critchfield lands his dream job as a high school band director\u202f<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

by Shawn Ryan<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\u202f Jamey Critchfield \u202fwas hired \u202fas band director \u202fat Black Fox Elementary School in Cleveland, Tennessee, he was a bit nervous. \u202fIt was his first teaching \u202fjob \u202fin an \u202felementary school.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUp until this appointment, my only experience in an elementary classroom was in my\u202f Elementary\u202f Methods class at UTC,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhen I was student teaching, I specifically asked for a high school and middle school placement because of my focus on band.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\tlearning\u00a0experience for the teacher\u00a0<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2017, Critchfield was hired for the 2018-2019 school year to cover for a teacher on maternity leave. He\u202f was in the \u202fBlack Fox \u202fclassroom for a couple of weeks \u202fwith the teacher \u202fwho was soon \u202fgoing on leave, picking \u202fup some valuable tips and advice. \u202fHis time at the school also taught him valuable lessons about time management\u202f and, he \u202fsays,\u202fnot joking in the least, \u201ca lot about the attention spans of K-12 students.\u201d\u202f More than anything, though, it \u202freminded him\u202f that \u202fhis passion lies \u202fin the world of band music.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A native of\u202fCleveland, Tennessee, \u202fwho graduated in 2013 from Bradley County High School,\u202f Critchfield arrived \u202fat UTC\u202fin fall semester 2013 \u202fto \u202fstudy \u202fmusic education. He chose \u202fUTC \u202fbecause it was close\u202f to home\u202f and, as a former trombone player in the Bradley County High school marching band, he was interested in\u202f the University\u2019s Marching Mocs. \u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critchfield\u202f says \u202ffaculty in the Department of Music \u201cnot only provided performance experience for me, personally, but inspiration and motivation to better myself as a musician.\u201d While at the University,\u202f he \u202fmet \u202fKenyon Wilson, \u202fassociate department head and professor in the Department of Music,\u202f who \u202fwas always willing to help young musicians, Critchfield says.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\u202f earning a degree, it took him a while to find a full-time job but, in \u202fearly 2018, he was hired to cover another \u202fmaternity leave \u202ffor a teacher \u202fat McMinn County High School and Athens City Middle School in Tennessee. The position \u202fallowed him to teach band every day until the end of the academic year.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\tTyner High calls<\/strong> <\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After\u202f Black Fox, \u202fhe was hired as band director at Tyner Academy where he now teaches \u202f9th through 12th <\/sup>\u202fgrades \u202fin the high school and \u202f6th through \u202f8th \u202fgrades \u202fin the middle school.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\u202f the\u202f COVID-19\u202f pandemic \u202fhit following his first year at the elementary school, \u202fCritchfield was thrown into a new world of\u202f educating and fostering students\u2019 passion for music\u202f while \u202falso finding ways of\u202f making \u202fmusic while dealing with the complexities of \u202fthe virus.\u202f Due to the situation, some of Critchfield\u2019s\u202f 6th \u202fand \u202f7th grade classes were switched from\u202f band\u202f to\u202f general\u202f music.\u202f\u201cThere were a \u202ffew differences for sure, but it\u2019s not necessarily a bad thing,\u201d he \u202fsays. \u201cOne difference is the length\u202f (of time) \u202fthat I have the kids in my class. In my band classes, students have my class all year long. I see the same students every day for the whole year. This is great\u202f because it helps me to cultivate their playing abilities and musical talents.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I teach\u202f general \u202fmusic, I only have a group of students for a quarter of the year. The next quarter, \u202fI have another group, \u202fso that by the end of the year I\u2019ve had four different groups of students for about nine weeks each.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the shifting phases of in-person and virtual learning, it would be very hard to keep the students I only have for nine weeks to get placed on an instrument, and then develop enough skills to be able to play it long term when they would only have it for a short time during the school year.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Critchfield hopes he\u2019s \u202fteaching \u202fstudents \u201chow fun band can be.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following some useful early assignments as a teacher, UTC grad Jamey Critchfield lands his dream job as a high school band…\n","protected":false},"author":1105,"featured_media":1708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115750],"tags":[24370,101024],"coauthors":[100988],"class_list":{"0":"post-1702","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spring-2021-edition","8":"tag-overflow","9":"tag-top","10":"cs-entry","11":"cs-video-wrap"},"yoast_head":"\nLeader of the Band - 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