As you walk into your class, expecting to see familiar faces, today, you see an unfamiliar face greet you.
This year, Mr. Stroud’s class welcomes a new student teacher: Lucas Harvey. Harvey is currently a student at Montclair State University. Many students agree that Harvey is a great addition to the class and brings unity, which benefits the band and can help it run smoother. Additionally, Harvey is also not the first student teacher KHS has had in band, so the band has an idea of what class will be like with him in it.
Harvey has had many musical experiences, such as being in a saxophone quartet. Which is a musical ensemble of four people playing saxophone. A quartet has four different ranges: soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone.
Harvey is a motivated student and teacher, with many forms of encouragement from past teachers, as well as potentially learning with students in class. Students in the band class share how Harvey is a talented musician and teacher. Creating a great environment as well as being able to maintain the classroom atmosphere.
Senior Hope Sirinides shared her opinion on Harvey: “I think the student teacher is great at finding and fixing errors in the music without casting blame on the students.”
Having teachers who do not place full responsibility on students for a mistake can be a relief to many, as that can be something that may cause some fear.
The main teacher, Mr. [Ryan] Stroud, and Harvey share different roles and responsibilities in class. Each one of them could focus on a different instrument, section, or part of music.
Junior Jesse Dazo explains, “The student teacher is much more focused on smaller individual parts rather than the main teacher, who may go over small parts of songs with the entire band rather than specific instruments like the saxophones, percussion, etc.”
Stroud shares how he is assisting Harvey in his classroom with sending feedback after lessons. “The best thing I can do is to allow Mr. Harvey the opportunity to ‘practice’ teaching and provide him with feedback.”
Harvey is a believer in every student having a chance to succeed in music. Motivation can come from many different sources and being able to recognize progress.
“I believe that every student has the potential to connect with music in a meaningful way, even if they aren’t super enthusiastic about the pieces that Mr. Stroud or I put on their music stands. Engagement comes from consistency—striving to improve something every day. Motivation comes from recognizing that improvement and understanding how far you’ve come.”
Overall, Harvey is appreciated in the classroom, with students noting good traits such as patience, positivity, and dedication. Harvey has great goals for the classroom and his music career, such as making music more accessible. He shares how he teaches students by breaking down ideas to make them easier to understand. His dedication to this craft shows enthusiasm towards teaching.
