My Zoom Session with a Phenomenal Middle School Choral Director

People forget what you say.  They forget what you do.  But they don't forget how you made them feel.

Maya Angelou

This was one of the first songs I heard (and saw) when I adjudicated in Alabama in March 2023.

Paper Crane.  Do yourself a favor and don't read on until you've listened to it...and watched it.

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I will never forget how I felt each time the students of Alicia Moreno Mulloy walked onto the stage that day.  She had multiple groups.  

The way they responded to every intake of air, every crescendo/descrescendo, sforzando...all of it.  The energy in the tone.  The way they watched her.  The looks on their faces...they were so committed to the music and the meaning and to singing for her and for us...Their conviction was profound.  The feeling in the room as beauty of the what we were witnessing and hearing was unforgettable.  The heartbeats of every human in the room were beating as one.  

It's what we all strive for when we make art.

This was the work of an amazing middle school teacher, and I wanted to know what she was doing.

So, naturally, I stalked her on Facebook and sent her a message.

She responded.

And then, she agreed to be on my 2023 Zoom series "Ask Mr. D" as the final guest for the season.  I had hosted some of the greats of middle school music monthly since March (Emerson/Cari Miller/Crocker/Gilpin), and it felt right to finish with a teacher who is doing it now in the classroom with public school students....not at an Arts Academy...just a regular school...not that there is anything wrong with arts academies...it's just that I'm a big proponent of public school education and changing those kids lives who don't necessarily have many advantages in their lives.  

I am proponent of giving those kids passion for something they didn't see coming.

And that is exactly what Alicia Moreno Mulloy (Mrs. M&M) is doing...now.  

Once school let out, she sent me an email including links to some of her performances with the students as well as some fun videos she makes with the students similar to To Dos and NOT to dos of Middle School Chorus that I made almost a decade ago.  Students LOVE doing stuff like that, and it is a good bonding experience as you create projects like those.

After July 4th, I started sharing her videos on social media and with my email list, and the response was/is amazing...because the work she is doing is amazing.

Two weeks before the July 27th Zoom, I met with her one-on-one on Zoom to learn more about her work so I could plan for the Zoom.  

My first impression was that she was...just Alicia.  No pretense.  Here I am.  This is me.  This is where I am from.  

And middle school kids love that from us because they see through us anyway.

She grew up with 4 siblings, and they slept in the living room because her parents worked hard, but didn't make a lot of money.  As a child, her only goal in life was to not be homeless.  Her parents said, we don't have money for college, so if you want to go, figure it out. 

She didn't intend to major in music.

She wanted to get a basketball scholarship.  She got one to a school in Arizona.  She was scouting Alcorn State University and wanted to do the basketball thing there.    She took her Clarinet with her.  She was an instrumentalist.   After hearing her play, the band director said, "If you play in my band, we will cover you tuition...BUT...if you study music education, we will cover tuition, room and board.

And so she studied instrumental music.  

She started teaching band.

Later, her husband's job moved the family to Alabama, where she planned to be an Assistant Principal, but the reciprocity laws state by state didn't work.  

So, she got a music job...but it wasn't in band.  

It was chorus.

And THAT is why we have this incredible teacher in our area of music education.

Several twists of fate...

During our one-on-one meeting, she told me that we had met before.  I'm like..."WHAT?  When and how?"  She pulled up a photo of the two of us.  I had totally forgotten this, but I had presented S-Cubed Sight Singing Program for Beginners and other workshops at the Alabama ACDA summer conference several years ago, and she was there desperately looking for ideas to survive the transition from being a band teacher to being a chorus teacher.  

She told me that she had loved the gamification of learning sight singing so she purchased S-Cubed.  As a band person by training and not a singer, she was basically in need of someone to just tell her what to do, and to make it fun...and that's was S-Cubed is all about.  Over the years, I have heard from many band teachers who have been placed into the chorus classroom to teach that they've found S-Cubed to be a life saver, and it helped Mrs. M&M.

I don't know about you, but I am so thankful I never had to teach band.  I feel certain that I would not soar in a band classroom the way she is soaring in middle school choral music.

For her, it is first about forming relationships with the students...before the music.

And you can tell...And she shares of lot of things in the Zoom that will help you and give you ideas.

Do yourself a favor if you are looking for inspiration and listen to this Zoom session.  When you go to the YouTube link, read the YouTube video description I wrote.  There are links to her performances as well as some materials she shared with all of us.

I have pretty much decided 2024 season of Ask Mr. D will feature more teachers like Mrs. M&M.  During the fall, look out for a google document where you can nominate yourself or a middle school choir director who is killing it.  You'll share video links to the teacher's work, and we will try to convince them to come share their tips and tricks on Zoom!  Make sure you are on my email list so you don't miss out!  Write "Subscribe" in the subject link and email me at inthemiddlewithmrd@gmail.com.

I want to continue to help middle school choir directors be the best they can be for the students who land in front of them.

Here is the link to the Zoom on YouTube.