Yes They Can! Creating Success in Urban and Rural Environments

As we all know, serving as an educator is essential work, and often, educators pour as much of themselves into it as possible. This can be particularly true when working in urban, rural, low socioeconomic, and Title 1 schools. We are passionate about the fact that despite the environment a student is in, they can succeed in some way through music. Between the two of us, we have over thirty years of experience teaching in low socioeconomic school districts. Through that time, we have developed a philosophy that we, the teacher, can significantly impact student success. With patience, vision, dedication, care, and a willingness to NOT GIVE UP, students can and will thrive from the guidance of educators.

Our research involved in-depth interviews with various music programs operating in unique urban and rural settings with low-income areas. We discovered that these programs shared commonalities, such as limited resources, budget constraints, and the need to address home life schedules specific to their communities. We found that creative problem-solving tailored to each community helps to make students in low socioeconomic school districts successful regardless of what resources they have access to or not. Our critical insight was that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution; the approach must be unique to the community you’re serving.

Financial Limitations

It is not uncommon for programs to subsidize the lack of financial resources by raising individual student fees. Unfortunately, this may not always be realistic in low economic circumstances. In our case, the median income in the community we teach is nearly $20,000 below the state average. Therefore, we work to keep our fees as low as possible and find other ways to subsidize funds, such as fundraising and band booster support. Based on our research, this is not always an option. However, we did find many of our colleagues utilizing unique fundraisers such as corn-hole tournaments, selling fireworks, car shows, and hosting events such as contests. Additionally, we found that many of the more successful programs operated with a well-organized and thought-out budget to ensure priorities were met even when working with limited district funds.

Home Observations

Another observation was the environment at home. It was common to see students living in a single-parent home or not living with parents at all. Some live with uncles and aunts, grandparents, and even older siblings. Therefore, students may need assistance coordinating rides to before and after school practice, access to supplies such as instruments, financial support for band fees, and consistency with attendance and punctuality. Some students lived in apartment housing where practicing a musical instrument could be frowned upon due to noise restrictions. Others had daycare responsibilities and cared for younger siblings each afternoon while their parents worked or they worked themselves. As a result, teachers must find ways to work with students when situations such as these arise. In like manner, we found that teachers building relationships with students impacted finding individual student resource needs. Students’ comfortable talking with teachers allows for honesty when discussing these resource needs and makes it easier to find items such as reeds, uniform accessories, rides to practice, scholarships for fees and lessons, and facilities for practice.

Mentorship

Furthermore, reaching your teaching audience using as many tools as possible is essential. For this reason, it is beneficial for new and experienced teachers to be open to mentorship. We have found that having that extra resource benefits teachers and students, regardless of demographics.

In brief, within every situation there are many opportunities for different outcomes, whether the path there is simple or creatively paved. The difference lies in us, the teachers, who seek to understand the students, community, and its needs. Teachers can be the difference in propelling students’ success in incredible and creative ways, they just need to be actively sought by the educator.

Marc Telles is the Director of Fine Arts and Bands at Seguin ISD in Seguin, Texas, and oversees K through 12th grade visual and performing arts programs. Mr. Telles holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Texas State University and a Master’s from the University of North Texas and has served as an educator for twenty-three years. Mr. Telles has award-winning concert bands, marching bands, and jazz ensembles. He is an active adjudicator for UIL and has presented workshops and clinics at the Texas Bandmasters Association, Texas Music Educators Association, and Texas Fine Arts Administrators conferences.

Samantha DiMatteo is one of the associate band directors of Seguin High School in Seguin, TX. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in Music education, and has served as a music educator for 8 years. Ms. DiMatteo has sweepstakes winning concert and marching bands, and has presented at the Texas Music Educators Association convention. She also serves as an instructor for the SASI Leadership company, and is a brass instructor for the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps.