By Josey Morris
“Name a teacher you get to work with all through middle school and high school,” he said.
Year after year students acclimate to new teachers, practice new procedures and adapt to new environments.
However, some Delta High School students learn from the same teachers throughout their middle school and high school years.
Mr. Zach Enos, the person who made the statement above, teaches band at Delta. He is one of four teachers who transition between the middle school and the high school.
Enos has been teaching at both schools since he started here seven years ago. He begins his day with the middle school in the morning before heading to the high school to end his day.
He estimates he works with about 300 students per day.
“If they get to high school and don’t know something, I have only myself to blame,” he said.
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Enos said at the middle school it is more regimented and every minute is scheduled. At the high school, he said there is more freedom for him and his students during class.
Moving between these two isn’t just a change in environment, but also a change in teaching styles.
Enos said the different ages require different types of motivation. He said at the middle school they make sure to have as much fun as they make music to keep the students motivated.
“(For high school students), their motivation has to come from them wanting to do it,” he said.
Enos appreciates the transition because he said both groups are completely different and he wouldn’t want to teach just one all day.
Enos isn’t the only one directing the Delta band, though.
“I would not still be here if I didn’t have a partner,” he said.
Ms. Jonie Crawford teaches the band at both schools alongside Enos. She also teaches two general music classes at the middle school.
Crawford has been moving between both schools for three of her five years at Delta. She teaches exactly 300 students in a day: 197 middle schoolers and 103 high schoolers.
The two schools require some distinct differences, according to Crawford.
She explained how at the middle school she is helping the students position their fingers for certain notes or helping with a slide position.
On the opposite side, she said she is able to loosen up at the high school.
“Obviously we still have a goal, play music, do this thing, but by this age the kids already know the routine,” Crawford said.
Working with the same students in both schools has a great benefit on the students and herself.
“If a student goes through band all through middle school and high school, and has the same teachers, they don’t have to learn new routines and processes,” Crawford said.
She said she has heard many stories where students were discouraged because they loved their middle school teacher, but not their high school teacher.
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Crawford hopes her students enjoy being taught by her throughout their middle school and high school years.
One way she keeps students interested is by turning up her personality for the middle schoolers.
“When they are young, especially with a subject like band where you have to recruit all of your kids, you have to be upbeat,” Crawford said.
Although Crawford greatly enjoys entertaining her younger students, she said by the time she arrives at the high school in the afternoons, it has drained the life from her.
Moving between both of the schools has introduced more problems than just her energy levels.
Crawford explained a momentary time where her key would not let her in the doors closest to her exit at the middle school. She ended up having to maneuver through the muddy grounds to get back to the high school.
Crawford’s teaching partner has also had some trouble with weather.
Enos said there have been instances where they were rolling instruments and the wind took the instruments. He quipped about how scarily fast the instruments go down a hill.
The weather is a common obstacle these teachers experience on a day to day basis.
“I don’t love wind,” she said. “But if that’s the worst thing I face in my day, then I’m doing alright.”
Ms. Elana Camp teaches chorale at the high school in the mornings and chorale at the middle school in the afternoons. Camp said she enjoys getting to walk outside for a few minutes during her travel time between the two schools.
Having this switch in her day has shown some challenges for Camp and her students. She said the switch can be hard because there are limitations on when students can turn things in to her. She said when she is collecting forms or money for events, she is not always going to be there when her students need her.
Even though the transition has shown some challenges, Camp knows there are more benefits.
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Since Camp sees most of her students in both schools, she knows what to expect from her students at the beginning of the school year.
While Camp teaches most of the same criteria to both age groups, she said middle schoolers and high schoolers have different needs when it comes to classroom structure.
Camp said there is a level of seriousness when teaching the high schoolers because most of the students by then are committed to the subject.
Though they are different, Camp feels she gets the best of both worlds.
“I get to see middle schoolers spark a love for music, and I get to help the high school students continue to nurture that love,” Camp said.
There is a stark difference in the way these teachers go about their day according to the age group they are teaching.
Another teacher who experiences this difference is Ms. Alicia Fuller. She teaches multiple levels of Drawing, Painting, Jewelry and Introduction to 2D Art at the high school. She then teaches eighth grade art at the middle school.
Fuller said she enjoys being able to switch throughout the day because it allows her to experience different atmospheres.
One thing that sometimes throws off Fuller’s day is when she is in need of something at one school, but it got left at the other.
Although she forgets her possessions sometimes, Fuller tries her hardest to make sure she has everything she needs.
Fuller said you will see her walking around carrying her beige tote bag that contains any supplies she might need in the day and her laptop.
“I try my hardest to get it in one trip,” Fuller exclaimed.
Fuller is grateful she has the opportunity to get to know her students in both the middle school and the high school. She believes it is beneficial for the students to be able to see a familiar face at the different schools.
Enos also believes it is great for the students and teachers to have the ability to know students in all of their years at the high school and middle school.
Enos said he takes delight in having kids he taught continue on in both schools. In the upcoming 2025 graduating class he will have students graduating that he taught in sixth grade.
“I call it the vertical alignment of the program,” Enos said.