Using the Ultimate Playoff to Build Music Mastery
For many music teachers, there is a familiar challenge in the rehearsal room. Students may be enthusiastic and eager to play, but foundational skills like note reading and rhythm recognition can slow everything down—and chip away at students’ confidence. When those fundamentals are shaky, teachers often spend precious rehearsal time helping kids get on track rather than focusing on repertoire performance.
Check out what this teacher did. The results even surprised her!
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Meet Vivian Ventura: Orchestra Director at Southwood Middle School; the winner of the 2025 Miami-Dade Teacher of the Year Award; accomplished violinist; mother of three; and Master of Music Education (MME) student. While Vivian’s accolades and accomplishments are impressive, what’s even more remarkable is her impact on her students.
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We all know how hard it can be to secure funding for music programs. That’s why we wanted to share this story from Amanda Irby, band director, and Matthew Rubenstein, orchestra and guitar director, who teach at Burney-Harris Lyons Middle School in Clarke Country School District, GA.
Like many schools, they were able to get funding during the pandemic, but once things got back to normal, that support was cut. Without Breezin’ Thru they saw their music program suffer and were determined to get it back. They knew that a data-driven approach would help them make their case. See how they did it!
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When Julie Goodwin, Piano Lab Instructor, informed her 115 students at Austin Academy for Excellence that they would be taking on the world in a music theory contest she was hoping to ignite a little friendly competition amongst her middle-school students. Little did she know that her kids would end up winning not one but two of the top prizes in Breezin’ Thru Theory’s annual Ultimate Playoff competition.
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Building student confidence and musicianship, while keeping things fun is what Breezin’ Thru Theory is all about. Tune into this short webinar as Jean McKen shares some key strategies and best practices as well as stories from other teachers on how they are getting kids excited about learning music theory with Breezin’ Thru.
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Music educators know that teaching music is an inspiring and richly rewarding experience. However, one part of the job that can be the most challenging is ensuring that your music program continues to grow and thrive. Raising the funds to secure necessary equipment, online resources and supplies can be daunting. Discover the three key steps you need to take to give your fundraising efforts wings to fly!
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It’s no secret that, as a music educator, you love what you do and want to inspire a lifelong love of music in your students. However, if you’re trying to keep your program thriving, re-energize an existing music program or build one from the ground up, there can be numerous challenges. Here are seven solid strategies designed to help attract and retain kids, and build your program’s profile.
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As a new teacher, and new to W.F. George Middle School, choir director Hannah Espinoza was given a challenge to grow the music program and have them competing at UIL (University Interscholastic League).
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Ten years ago, Chicago Academy High School was not known for the strength of its music program. With only a general music class, there were no instruments, no band or choir electives and little opportunity for students to explore the performing arts.
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At Dempsey Middle School, there is a vibrant performing arts program; students can elect to take band, orchestra or chorus. With 300 students in Tracy Cinereski’s choir program alone, she spent a lot of time knee-deep in weekly theory assignments. She admits to feeling “constantly bogged down” trying to keep up with all the grading, which could be up to 10 hours a week.
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