A new teacher has entered the building. She has a bright personality and big dreams for the future of the band program. This week we are honored to spotlight the new band director, Mrs. Johnston.
She has a long list of experience in band. She started out by learning to play the piano from her mom when she was very young. Then, she moved on to learn how to play the flute. She graduated from Grand Valley State University and participated in many different band opportunities. She shares more on her band experiences: “I marched throughout all of college and I played in concert bands. I got to play a lot of really difficult pieces, but it was a lot of fun to push myself.” Before Concord, she also taught at a few different schools. She shares the past schools she’s taught at: “Before I came to Concord, I taught at Jonesville for a year with middle school band and choir. Then, I taught at Waldron for about six years, and I did K-12 band and music.”
She also had an exciting event over the summer: she got married! She explains that she was moving into the area, and when the band position opened, it was perfect. She explains that once she saw the position listed, “[she] looked into the band history and knew a few of the previous band directors. [She] knew there was a good history of quality band and the kids really seem to enjoy it here.”
Mrs. Johnston was tremendously impacted by her past band teacher. She shares, “I had a band teacher when I was in middle school that really helped push our whole band to do really well, but also pushed us to be better individuals. So, that influenced a lot of how I viewed myself. I just want to do the same thing for other students.”
Mrs. Johnston has many great values that she is bringing to Concord’s band program. “I came from a school about the same size as Concord and we had a lot of turnovers, band directors were always in and out. We had a fluctuating size. We started small, and then started to get a little bit bigger, and then switch band directors and it would get small again. So, that’s what made me want to teach in a smaller school. I wanted to have some consistency and let kids know that just because you go to a smaller school doesn’t mean you deserve to have people in and out all the time.” She shares that she wants to give band students of Concord a sense of stability and community.
Now that we have learned about her band experiences, let’s talk about who she really is.
Johnston was originally from Decatur, Michigan, but has moved closer to Concord since. She excitedly shares her current family. “I just got married in July, so it’s just me and my husband. We have three dogs between the two of us, so that’s a lot of fun. I grew up with three siblings; two sisters and a brother.”
When you first meet someone, many judge them based on their first impressions of them. Johnston shares one thing that most people get wrong about her. “I am a pretty nice person, so people assume that I am a pushover. But, I am quite firm when I say I’m going to stick to something.”
Another part of modern-day culture is TV shows and movies. She explains that the last show she binge watched was “Virgin River”. She shares that season five just came out so she has been watching that. She also explains that her favorite movie is the 1987 film, The Princess Bride.
She also shares with us her favorite food. “any kind of Chinese food,” she explains. “It’s really good.”
Johnston likes to travel, and explains that one place that she wants to go back to is the U.P.
She says, “I like hiking and the mountains. I have been to the U.P. quite a lot, and it is one of my favorite places.”
Sophomore band student, Maddox Hutchinson explains how he feels about the current band program. “I feel like [the band program] is going great. I have no complaints.” He explains that he hopes the band program will only get bigger from here. “I think that Mrs. Johnston is just an awesome person.”
Make sure to stop in and meet Mrs. Johnston. She is here to better Concord’s band program and is already doing just that. We hope that she is enjoying her time here so far and wish her the best of luck here at Concord!
