Hitting the RightNotes

Gautier Band Director Helps Students Uncover Passion for Music

By Brock Turnipseed

ments as the band director at Gautier Middle School (GMS) in the Pascagoula-Gautier School District (PGSD)�

Smith teaches band to seventh and eighth graders at GMS The students come to her having one year of experience, and her goal is to refine those skills and continue building confidence and a passion for music that will hopefully keep them pursuing band into high school pi Teacher of the Year is she does not shy away from challenging students to grow both musically and personally

She discovered her passion for music in the PGSD as a member of the band at Pascagoula High School; however, she had no intention of pursuing a career as a band director

All are integral subjects in a student’s education Music combines those subjects and provides an outlet to express emotions, recall memories, enhance cognitive benefits, build teamwork and much more�

Louise Smith has spent all 21 years of her professional career instilling a love for music in students and teaching them to read music and play instru-

“I take the skills that they started in sixth grade, and I want them to master them,” Smith said “I want things to become automatic for them I want their thinking processes to be established in seventh grade so that when they get to eighth grade, it’s all application We want to take the skills they know and make them better by working in an ensemble ”

One reason Smith became the first band director named Mississip-

“My mother is Filipino, and I was raised with this mentality that I was going to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer,” Smith said� “I was going to LSU to major in biochemistry and go on to dental school to become an orthodontist ”

After attending the Gulf Coast Band Directors Association Clinic, she was at church and heard a voice tell her she would be a band director and major in music at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM)

“That was my calling into teaching I listened, and because I did, my life has been incredibly blessed,” Smith said

She followed that calling to GMS, where she has been ever since And many students have thrived under her tutelage�

Her students perform at football games and put on concerts at Christmas and in the spring They also attend state concert evaluations to prepare them for the next step in high school

Nicole Allen, the associate director of bands at Pearl High School, became friends with Smith at a conductor’s workshop at USM and has watched Smith’s students flourish under her guidance

“There is significant growth each time I hear them,” Allen said “She does not shy away from challenging her students with the literature she chooses or the performance opportunities she provides ”

Smith attributes that growth to having a solid team of band directors in the district who work together to create a fluid path from sixth grade to high school

Stephanie McArthur, the sixthgrade band director at PGSD’s Singing River Academy, has formed a tight-knit bond with Smith for the past 10 years McArthur plants the music seed before sending her students, including her two children, to grow under Smith�

“It’s amazing seeing our students go from beginners one year and see how much they grow over the course of their middle school careers,” McArthur said “[Smith] is instrumental in creating a safe space where kids can grow musically and personally She is instrumental in building a curriculum that takes what our beginners learn in year one and instills confidence in every aspect of the middle school curriculum, creating a highly successful high school band program ”

Smith told of a student who read below his grade level She taught him how to read music, emphasizing that the same skills used to read music are the same ones used in learning to read words, and the time invested in teaching the student to read music helped him grow his reading skills by three grade levels

Situations like that, or when students come together in an ensemble to play a beautiful composition, are when Smith realizes listening to that voice at church was the right decision

Now, as the Mississippi Teacher of the Year, she has the opportunity to advocate for teachers across the state, especially those who teach activities

-Stephanie McArthur, sixth-grade band director at Pascagoula-Gautier School District

“Activities play a vital role in the education of the whole child Many activities teachers spend more than one year with their students,” Smith said “The way our band director team works, we will have spent seven years with students — nearly half their life We are invested in seeing them succeed ” She hopes to use her platform to show how activities can complement the extraordinary work being done by the academic teachers in the state

“There are wonderful teachers statewide, and to be able to tell about the great things happening in our state in education is humbling and an amazing opportunity,” Smith said�