Sometimes the first sign that something special is happening in a classroom is that the people next door stop and listen.
At Wasatch Elementary, sixth-grade teachers Betsy Isom and Jim Scribner could hear the school orchestra rehearsing just one room away. What they heard led them to nominate orchestra teacher Jennifer Hatfield for the Provo Way Award.
Jennifer was new to the sixth-grade orchestra program and also taught orchestra at other schools. Even early in the year, Betsy and Jim could hear a change. “We sit in our rooms and listen in awe as the orchestra performs just one room over,” they wrote.
“We have never, never, never heard our students play anywhere near this well, even by the end of the year, and it is only November!!” The sound impressed them, but so did what they saw when they stepped into the room. Students looked “happy, proud, and are playing confidently.”
That is an important part of the Provo Way. Strong instruction is not only visible in a finished performance. It can also be seen in students who know they are improving, take pride in what they can do, and are willing to play loudly enough for the classrooms next door to hear.
Betsy and Jim ended their nomination with the kind of endorsement that is hard to improve upon: “We are so pleased and hope we keep her forever!” Congratulations, Jennifer, on giving Wasatch students something worth being proud to play.
