As a part of Mr. Long’s photojournalism class, students completed a short interview with different staff members of the district. Over the next few weeks, we will highlight some of the staff members that make a difference in our student’s lives.
Sara Berg, ACHS Band and Choir Director (Interviewed by Megan Spring)
“What do you find most enjoyable in music education?
I enjoy how my days have a lot of different varieties. At the high school, I love how we are on a block schedule. So one day, it’s choir and the next it’ll be band and then it alternates everyday. At the grade school, 5th graders are just beginning, 6th graders you can expand a little, and then 7th and 8th graders can expand even more. Then that's when you finally get to high school. So, I can have a lot of variety in what I teach and who I teach.
“What is your favorite memory in music education?”
I would say, taking students to honor bands and winning things at Oblong are my favorite memories. Or even just remembering a normal day in band is also a favorite as well as concert season. There’s just a lot of different things that I can categorize as favorite memories.
“We won at Oblong right?”
Yes! We won Oblong this year and we also won it in 2022, which is really hard to do. Oblong judges by school size, not by band size. So, one year, we were against a Chicago band, and this year we were up against a Peoria band. These schools had about 12,000-15,000 students in their school. This year, we have around 240 students. So, it was very exciting to win. I remember, I was with my friends during the announcements and when they had said our town, I threw up my book. I was just so shocked and I probably started screaming. It was just a very exciting moment.
“Who was your inspiration and how did they inspire you?”
I had two really inspiring teachers. One is obviously my band teacher, Mr. Brown, and he inspired me to believe in myself and our band to believe in ourselves. But, he just helped you believe. He told me that I can make District Band, and then I did. He told me I can make it to Honors, and when he first started talking about it I just never would’ve thought to do it. He just really made me believe in myself.
My other inspiration was my softball coach, Ms. Gigar, who taught PE and health. She seemed to have all the confidence in the world. She believed in me and our team. We made it to sectionals three out of the 4 years of my high school career. I played shortstop and my coach gave me the real belief in myself that you may not get everywhere. If they told me I could do it, then I started doing it. And that’s what I hope to bring to my students.
“I feel that, you inspire me to believe in myself”
That makes me feel great
“What accomplishments are you most proud of? And how did you achieve them?”
I am really proud of the band that I started with at South Central because it was really small. I had only five people in the high school band when I started and around ten to twelve at the junior high. But, when I left, I had over twenty at the high school and around thirty to forty students at the junior high. So that was just starting out. I was fresh out of college so, my knowledge level was probably good for someone new out of college. But, not nearly as knowledgeable as I am now. So, I’m just glad that I made that school better. I really enjoyed my time there. Then Vandalia opened up and it was closer to my house. On top of that, it was a pay raise and I got to step into the shoes of a really great teacher, Drew Schneider, who had the program running solid for years. So, thankfully, I got to work with him over the summer and he taught me a lot. So, I felt very responsible to keep it going. When I came here, the high school band had a big decrease in numbers; but, I was able to build it back up. I just try to make every place better.
“What advice would you give someone who wants to be a music educator like you?”
Try to learn the piano before you get into college and try to pick up a few extra instruments that you at least can play a scale on. That way you know the basics of how it works. During my freshman year in college, my Theory professor told us to look around and that less than half of us would be there our sophomore year. This scared the daylights out of me, but what he said was true. It was probably not even a quarter of my class that was still there during my sophomore year. If you can make it through your freshman year and into your sophomore year, you’ll more than likely be okay. It is best to have the knowledge of theory as well. Theory was a big thing that just crossed a lot of students out. If you’re going into a music major, or even a minor, you’re going to have theory as a class. You’re going to have to work hard and not skip classes. You’re just going to have to be strong willed. If you receive a homework assignment back and you get a bad grade, then work harder and put time into it. Many people just get discouraged and then they just think that they can’t do it. You just always have to have a positive attitude and a really good work ethic.
“ Isn’t typically easier to learn other instruments if you learn the piano first?”
Yes, absolutely. I was in tumbling in first grade, but then my parents told me that I couldn’t do it anymore because of how far away it was. My mom told me that I could start learning the piano and I thought “yay!” I’m just really thankful that my family put a really strong emphasis on it. Then when I was in 6th grade, I started the flute. Once I started the flute, I was obsessed with it. Because of this, I didn’t really want to play the piano anymore and I wish my mom had made me. But, I understand that she was thinking more of me and my feelings, than her own. So, I was really thankful that they got me a flute. But, yes, the piano definitely makes things even easier. Especially because it makes theory easier since you can see it better on the piano keys than the keys of a flute, or a violin, or a clarinet.
“What is your least favorite thing about being a music teacher? And why?”
My least favorite thing about teaching would be the administrative duties such as sending emails, and possibly different classes that are not for the band or choir. But I love the teaching part for band and choir. I just don’t like the things that would take me away from that.
“What is a setback that you have to overcome, and how did you overcome it?”
Covid was definitely a setback. Our schedule that was set up was super great at the high school and I feel like it was good at the grade school as well. The grade school was very supportive in trying to let us succeed through the pandemic. Some other schools were not and they would shut down the music programs, which was really sad. Our school being supportive and us having resilience during that depressing time really helped us. Then in my personal life, when my mom died, it was such a hard time. I just took it really hard and I had trouble moving on. You just have to find a way to compartmentalize it and keep moving on. I try my best to separate my personal life from work. I try not to think about school too much when I’m home because being at home is my time away from school. Then when I’m at the high school or the grade school, I really don’t think about home or my family too much. The hardest thing has always been when my kids, my husband, or even myself are sick.
“Have you always wanted to be a music teacher? If not, then what was it that you wanted to do?”
When I was in high school, for a little bit, I thought I wanted to be a respiratory therapist. But then, I realized that I really did not like hospitals and I really have no idea why I thought that. In my senior year, I thought that there was no way that I could quit playing my instrument. I wanted to keep going. I got scholarships to be in band and orchestra, but I just never really pictured myself as a teacher. I had an older sister, and I kind of viewed her as a teacher and I was the student. But, at some point, I thought, yes I have to. My flute professor tried to get me into performance, but I knew I was going to live around Altamont. On top of that, I didn’t want to live in a bigger city. I just thought that it needed to be education. I also loved my band teacher, so I just wanted to do that for others. I'm really glad that I followed my gut.
“What are your greatest strengths, and what are your weaknesses?”
My greatest strength would probably be that I believe in myself and I think I can. But sometimes, you have that little voice in your head that tells you otherwise. Believing that I can is the biggest thing. If you don’t know some, then find someone who does and don’t be afraid to ask for help. That’s a really big one too. I am afraid to ask for help, but I’ve gotten better at it over the years as time goes on. I’m also not afraid to be by myself, in college or in high school. My best friends weren’t in band and sometimes when your friends aren’t in band, then you’re not. I saw this a lot. But, I wasn’t afraid to be by myself and in college that was a really big thing. I saw so many kids just being with other people, but I wasn’t afraid to be that lone person in the practice room practicing while they’re all going out and doing something fun. It was fun for me to be good at doing what I was doing. My biggest weakness would be technology.
“What motivates you to keep teaching, especially on a bad day?”
I just think of the group that’s coming in and I think of the nicest student that really wants to learn. For example, Megan Spring, I would think of her and think to myself, “Ok, I got to bring my best because Megan Spring wants to do better and learn more.” That’s really what I do to motivate myself to always do a good job because there’s someone counting on me.
“I know for me, I look up to you. Both you and my piano teacher are my inspirations.”
Thank you! That makes me feel really happy. There was a time that I texted Mr. Brown, about two weeks ago, and I was having a terrible day. I called him, he answered, and he said he was in South Dakota on a vacation with his wife. But, the call got cut off. He ended up texting me. He told me to always love your students as much as I loved you guys. I really looked up to him and sort of saw him as a father figure. It was about five years ago, but when I graduated college, he was so depressed after I graduated because he sort of thought of me as a daughter. Yeah, it’s hard. It’s really hard to see your students graduate after you’ve taught them since 6th grade. It’s also something that is different for band teachers than your typical Math, Science, or English teacher. For band teachers, you have those students longer, which is always nice.