By Bozhena Movchko, BEAT reporter
BRUNSWICK, OH- Have you ever wondered what it is like to be an orchestra teacher? Sarah Erdman knows what it’s like first-hand, as the Brunswick Middle School orchestra (grades 6-8) teacher the past 12 years.
Erdman became an orchestra teacher because of all the great music teachers she interacted with growing up. When she was in high school, she took private viola lessons as a part of her scholarship. Erdman had to give back by teaching beginning private lessons to beginning 5th graders. She loved teaching them and helping them improve. One of her first private students is now an orchestra teacher in Oregon.
Erdman, who graduated from Bowling Green State University, chose this career because it was one thing she was good at and enjoyed doing, and she wanted to make sure beginning orchestra students had success and a positive experience. In her career, she has taught orchestra in grades 4-12 in Ashland City Schools and in Washington Local Schools.
Erdman's biggest challenge in teaching is simple: you can prepare what you think is a great lesson, but if students don’t understand the concept, it isn't so great. So, you need to change your approach to make sure they understand what you need them to. The biggest reward for Erdman is the performances and the growth students make in orchestra. “My goal is for every concert to sound better than their last one,” Erdman stated.
One of Erdman’s favorite teaching memories was during a challenging time, when she first moved into the Brunswick Middle School during COVID. At that time, her 6th grade students’ year was cut short and they didn’t get to play together in-person until November of 2020. Those months were stressful, but having all her orchestra students play together, online and eventually in-person, gave hope that things would return to “normal” soon.
Erdman shared some final advice to those entering the teaching profession: “Celebrate progress over perfection and make sure you have people in your life to be able to work through ideas and frustrations. These people can be peers from college or veteran teachers in the same district. Nobody can go through teaching alone.”
Bozhena Movchko, Brunswick Middle School, is one of over fifty student “backpack journalists” (grades 6-12) in the award-winning BEAT Video Program. The program, celebrating its 25th year, is sponsored by Donut Land, Plum Creek Assisted Living Community, MODA Gifts, Scripps Howard Foundation and the Brunswick Rotary Club. Go to https://www.bcsoh.org/community/new-beat-site to learn more about the Program, or visit https://thebeat.viebit.com/?folder=ALL to view videos produced by the students.
PHOTOS: Sarah Erdman’s first year performance in Disney Springs.