Guest Bloggers: Getting to Know Mr. Andrews

I am excited to introduce some guest bloggers for The Coleytown Chronicles! Alexa and Georgia are two fourth grade students at CES. They are writing a series of blog posts about fourth grade orchestra. The first post is based on their interview with our orchestra conductor, Mr. Jim Andrews. Please enjoy their writing below.

All About Mr. Andrews by Alexa & Georgia

Do you know which Coleytown staff member loves golf, murder mystery books, fishing, and most of all Beethoven? It’s our own Mr. Andrews, the fourth and fifth grade orchestra teacher. He has been a member of the Coleytown community for 34 years! We took some time to interview Mr. A to find out more about him. So let’s get started!

Mr. Andrews was born in Germany but spent most of his childhood in Massachusetts. There are five children in his family and he is the second oldest. Growing up, he liked to play baseball, golf, and most of all, the bass! He studied music at Yale before becoming a teacher and playing professionally.

As a musician, Mr. A has played all over the country with a lot of famous musicians. In fact, he said there were “too many to count!” In his performances he plays the bass. He plays the bass because it has a beautiful low sound and because not many people play the bass. We asked him if he would rather play or conduct an orchestra and he said that he would rather play in a orchestra but he likes to do both playing and conducting.

One of the many questions we asked was, “What is the hardest thing about teaching? ” His answers were about having patience when dealing with children and adults. It is hard work learning an instrument and practice is so important. Having parents and students support this makes a big difference. Recently the fourth grade just had their first orchestra concert. We practiced a lot for this show. Mr. A practices for hours to ace his performances!

One of the reasons that everyone loves Mr. A is because he is considerate and generous. Whenever he has a free moment, he helps his students by writing out songs, practicing with them, and being a good listener.

William Arthur Ward once said, “A mediocre music teacher tells. A good music teacher explains. A superior music teacher demonstrates. A great music teacher inspires.” Mr. Andrews tells, explains, demonstrates and inspires each day.