ROGERS — Jessica Dutton always knew she wanted to be a teacher. When she discovered she had a passion for music, she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life.

Dutton is the new music teacher at Tillery Elementary School.

She came to the district with one year of experience, teaching music at the Benton County School of the Arts. She’s replacing a nationally certified music teacher who was also the lead music teacher for the district, but Dutton is not intimidated.

“It’s great to have a standard to live up to,” she said.

As a child Dutton moved around a lot; she ended up attending high school in Lubbock, Texas, and living with her grandmother.

Her grandmother, a native of northwest Arkansas, told her stories about the beauty of the Ozark mountains, so Dutton chose University of Arkansas when it was time for college.

Every musician wants to perform, Dutton said, but there’s more to music than performance. As a teacher,she can appreciate music theory and history. As a music teacher she can get to know every child at the school.

“You have to reach them where they are,” she said about teaching six different grades. Kindergartners get excited about everything, she said.

“You can tell them, ‘We’re going to hit two sticks together’ and they love it,” she said.

Fifth graders are much harder to impress. But she finds the middle grades the most difficult. They’re too old for the simple stuff, she said, but not quite ready for the difficult stuff.

During the second semester, she’ll introduce recorders to third, fourth and fifth graders. Kids love the simple flute-like instrument, she said. Most of her students will purchase a recorder so they can practice at home, but there’s also a classroom set for kids who just can’t afford to buy one.

Her older students are already asking when they can start the recorder. She may post a large chart where all the students can watch themselves progress to more and more difficult tunes.

They also use percussion instruments in class as well as instruments like xylophones where students can explore pitch.

“Our voice, hands and feet are also instruments,” she said.

Music is hands-on learning, Dutton said. She tries to connect music class with the core subjects, but it’s also a place where some students can be successful for the first time. Every student can sing,she said, although occasionally she’ll have to keep a student close by and try to coax the right note out of them. But they still enjoy it, she said.

She hopes to start a school choir next semester for students who want to take on the extra commitment.

When she’s not at school, Dutton is still doing music often with her new husband at their church.

Scholars, Pages 8 on 11/04/2009

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