“Here at school, I think this is the place where we get rid of the barriers for them,” said Mitchell Woods Public School teacher Kelly Stronach. “It’s a chance to put away the paper and pencils and learn by listening and doing.”
Stronach is nominated for the MusiCounts teacher of the year award, an honour to recognize remarkable Canadian music teachers.
The winner receives $10,000 towards their music program and a JUNO award.
Music teaches students perseverance, confidence and bravery to try something new, said Stronach.
“We try really hard to celebrate mistakes and laugh about the funny sounds we make at first.”
Stronach said her classroom is a safe space for students to learn and get better at playing music.
“Typically parents don’t have money, or time, or the instruments. Sadly, a lot of music costs money.”
Stronach raised $25,000 over the last 10 years for music programs she has taught.
Her students in the past have gone to long-term care homes, festivals and sporting events to perform.
She runs her school’s gay-straight alliance club. Stronach also teaches workshops about social justice issues through music. This year she will teach a similar workshop on how to address anti-Asian racism through a music lens.
The Richmond Hill native's love of music grew in a music program at an arts high school before she made her way to Queen's University and finished her bachelors in music. From then she performed with different groups and taught private piano lessons. She started teaching and knew she was where she was meant to be.
Stronach once had a student who wanted to learn piano. At the time she only spoke Vietnamese, so another student who spoke Vietnamese and English, translated for them. Learning music didn’t necessarily mean they had to communicate through language.
Another student struggled to come to school, so to encourage him to try academically she taught him how to play guitar. The student moved to another school and brought the guitar Stronach gave him.
The winner of the MusiCounts teacher of year award will be announced live at the JUNO awards May 15.
