Oakdale High School welcomes 12 new teachers this school year; all of these teachers have their own unique personalities to add to the Oakdale community. One teacher that is new to Oakdale this year is Ms. Jacqueline Grimm. She is a new music teacher and the head of the new choir program.
As a new teacher in the music department, Grimm has had a lot of help from other teachers apart from the performing arts programs. Grimm mentions, “I feel supported in establishing this new [choir] program. I have great teammates: Ms. Burton and Mr. Copen. Also, Mr. Caulfield has made it clear that he wants to see the choir program grow and be a part of the school community.”
Grimm has been teaching for 14 years, her favorite thing about teaching music is her students. She expressed, “I love it [teaching]. The kids are wonderful, respectful and just genuinely nice kids.”
One of Grimm’s students, sophomore Lorelei McWillaims, also loves her class. McWilliams described, “I like that she is nice and she is a lot of fun. She really knows what she is doing with chorus. Some music teachers just get shoved to teach all the music classes, but she actually knows about choir and how to teach choir and other music classes.”
Grimm has always loved doing choir and band even before she became a teacher: “I really always loved being a part of a choir when I was in high school; it was everything that I did. I realized I wanted to be able to share that with kids and help recreate the same joy I had when I was a student with all of them. So I started in elementary music and then it has always been a goal of mine to [end] up here teaching in high school.”
These past experiences with taking music classes helped her to connect with her students. Even though it is still early in the school year, Grimm has had great progress with her music classes. Grimm stated, “There have been a lot of little celebrations and little wins. As a teacher you learn to take some of your little wins sometimes because you are not always going to have big ones, seeing them kind of have those lightbulb moments when something comes together. Those are the wins, right now, that I am really enjoying.”
In general, Ms. Grimm loves teaching choir and music. She loves being able to share her music experience with her students. Her students also love that she takes her time and understands how to teach music. Ms. Grimm’s amazing personality and passion for music are what makes her a great addition to the OHS music department.
